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Published February 1, 2024
SINGAPORE — Despite knowing that her friend had been raped while unconscious by one of her colleagues during a drunken hotel staycation, a woman did not make a police report of the crime.
A few months later, the same woman, now aged 21, was involved in the misuse of bank accounts, one of which was used to receive about S$200,000 in scam proceeds.
The woman pleaded guilty on Thursday (Feb 1) to seven charges, including one of intentionally omitting information regarding an offence, two cheating charges, one charge of abetting cheating and three charges of abetting unauthorised access to a bank account.
The names of the woman and other parties involved in the cases cannot be published because of a court order protecting the identification of the rape victim.
A district judge called for a report to assess the woman's suitability for probation, which is typically offered to first-time offenders who committed offences while under the age of 21.
She will return to court for sentencing on March 18, 2024.
She was in a WhatsApp group chat with eight other Shopee colleagues who wanted to organise an apartment staycation.
As the group was unable to book an apartment, on Nov 28, 2021, they had dinner at Lau Pa Sat until the woman and seven other colleagues took two Grab cars to Hotel Royal located in Newton Road.
Due to Covid-19 safe management measures that then stipulated a maximum of five people at gatherings, they went up to their booked hotel room in smaller groups to avoid detection.
A woman in her early 20s who was a friend of the accused became tipsy and fell asleep on the bed. A male colleague, also in his 20s, lay next to her and began hugging her.
A teenaged male colleague then carried the tipsy woman into the toilet before the other male colleague entered the toilet and raped her while she was unconscious. She was then carried back to the bed.
The woman was awake and knew that the rapist wanted to have sex with her friend.
He then told the woman and the teenager what he had done, and the three agreed to tell the victim that she had followed him into the toilet of her own accord.
The victim later overheard the woman and the two male colleagues talking about her and pretended to remain asleep. When she used the toilet and felt pain, she suspected that she had been raped and confronted the group.
The victim filed an online police report a few days later. The rapist has been convicted and sentenced.
Anyone who has reason to believe that an offence has been committed but intentionally omits providing information regarding that offence can be jailed for up to six months or be fined, or both.
The woman used the S$1,000 given to her by “London Stark” to open a bank account in her name under that user’s direction, before handing over internet banking details to the user.
The bank account she opened was used for scam transactions between March 9 and 16 in 2022.
After opening the bank account as directed, the woman did not receive payment as she was promised and so closed the account and changed the internet banking details of the account.
The user “London Stark” then claimed that the account had S$300,000 in it and accused the woman of taking the money. The user then assigned people to go to her residence four times to threaten her mother and siblings.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Tan Jing Min told the court that “London Stark” directed her to create more bank accounts to “make up for the lost S$300,000”, after which the woman relinquished three personal bank accounts and created more accounts to hand over to the person.
An account she opened with CIMB was used to receive S$199,798 from a scam victim.
This account was tracked back to the woman during investigations related to the scam victim, who called the police on May 27, 2022 after giving her personal and banking details to someone claiming to be from the High Court.
The woman was also involved in recruiting friends to sell their bank accounts to “London Stark”. For every friend she recruited to open a bank account, the woman would get S$100.
She recruited five friends and earned S$500 in this scheme, including a friend she had known since secondary school who opened an account that received S$28,602.04.
Anyone who is convicted of cheating can be jailed for up to three years or fined, or receive both as punishment.
Those found guilty of abetting to secure unauthorised access to the bank's computer system can be jailed for up to two years or fined up to S$5,000.
Woman, 21, pleads guilty to failing to report rape of unconscious friend, opening bank accounts for scammers
SINGAPORE — Despite knowing that her friend had been raped while unconscious by one of her colleagues during a drunken hotel staycation, a woman did not make a police report of the crime.
- A 21-year-old woman pleaded guilty to seven charges, including one of not reporting a friend's rape and others of opening bank accounts for scammers
- She was in the same hotel room while a colleague raped her unconscious friend, yet she told the victim that she did not know about it
- A bank account she opened was used to receive S$199,798 from a scam victim
- A judge called for a probation suitability report, before the woman is to be sentenced in March
Published February 1, 2024
SINGAPORE — Despite knowing that her friend had been raped while unconscious by one of her colleagues during a drunken hotel staycation, a woman did not make a police report of the crime.
A few months later, the same woman, now aged 21, was involved in the misuse of bank accounts, one of which was used to receive about S$200,000 in scam proceeds.
The woman pleaded guilty on Thursday (Feb 1) to seven charges, including one of intentionally omitting information regarding an offence, two cheating charges, one charge of abetting cheating and three charges of abetting unauthorised access to a bank account.
The names of the woman and other parties involved in the cases cannot be published because of a court order protecting the identification of the rape victim.
A district judge called for a report to assess the woman's suitability for probation, which is typically offered to first-time offenders who committed offences while under the age of 21.
If the woman is found suitable for probation, and receives this type of sentence, she will not have a criminal record.She will return to court for sentencing on March 18, 2024.
NOT REPORTING RAPE
In 2021, the woman was working as a warehouse assistant at e-commerce company Shopee.She was in a WhatsApp group chat with eight other Shopee colleagues who wanted to organise an apartment staycation.
As the group was unable to book an apartment, on Nov 28, 2021, they had dinner at Lau Pa Sat until the woman and seven other colleagues took two Grab cars to Hotel Royal located in Newton Road.
Due to Covid-19 safe management measures that then stipulated a maximum of five people at gatherings, they went up to their booked hotel room in smaller groups to avoid detection.
The group consumed alcohol and played card games, before the hotel concierge told the group they were in breach of Covid-19 regulations. Two members of the group then left.A woman in her early 20s who was a friend of the accused became tipsy and fell asleep on the bed. A male colleague, also in his 20s, lay next to her and began hugging her.
A teenaged male colleague then carried the tipsy woman into the toilet before the other male colleague entered the toilet and raped her while she was unconscious. She was then carried back to the bed.
The woman was awake and knew that the rapist wanted to have sex with her friend.
He then told the woman and the teenager what he had done, and the three agreed to tell the victim that she had followed him into the toilet of her own accord.
The victim later overheard the woman and the two male colleagues talking about her and pretended to remain asleep. When she used the toilet and felt pain, she suspected that she had been raped and confronted the group.
In response, the woman claimed that she was sleeping and did not know what had happened.The victim filed an online police report a few days later. The rapist has been convicted and sentenced.
Anyone who has reason to believe that an offence has been committed but intentionally omits providing information regarding that offence can be jailed for up to six months or be fined, or both.
SCAM INVOLVEMENT
In March 2022, the woman came across an Instagram advertisement for “Fast Cash”, which directed her to a Telegram group where she communicated with a user called “London Stark”.The woman used the S$1,000 given to her by “London Stark” to open a bank account in her name under that user’s direction, before handing over internet banking details to the user.
The bank account she opened was used for scam transactions between March 9 and 16 in 2022.
After opening the bank account as directed, the woman did not receive payment as she was promised and so closed the account and changed the internet banking details of the account.
The user “London Stark” then claimed that the account had S$300,000 in it and accused the woman of taking the money. The user then assigned people to go to her residence four times to threaten her mother and siblings.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Tan Jing Min told the court that “London Stark” directed her to create more bank accounts to “make up for the lost S$300,000”, after which the woman relinquished three personal bank accounts and created more accounts to hand over to the person.
An account she opened with CIMB was used to receive S$199,798 from a scam victim.
This account was tracked back to the woman during investigations related to the scam victim, who called the police on May 27, 2022 after giving her personal and banking details to someone claiming to be from the High Court.
The woman was also involved in recruiting friends to sell their bank accounts to “London Stark”. For every friend she recruited to open a bank account, the woman would get S$100.
She recruited five friends and earned S$500 in this scheme, including a friend she had known since secondary school who opened an account that received S$28,602.04.
Anyone who is convicted of cheating can be jailed for up to three years or fined, or receive both as punishment.
Those found guilty of abetting to secure unauthorised access to the bank's computer system can be jailed for up to two years or fined up to S$5,000.
