Woman imported sausages to sell on Facebook and threatened to shout 'molest' during investigation, gets jail
A total of about 36kg of illegally imported food products were detected. (Photo: Singapore Food Agency)
Lydia Lam
12 Sep 2022 12:10PM (Updated: 12 Sep 2022 12:17PM)
SINGAPORE: A woman illegally imported 36kg of sausages, meat and duck eggs from China, intending to sell them on Facebook.
When caught and asked to give a statement to a Singapore Food Agency (SFA) officer, she threatened to shout "molest", knowing it would injure his reputation.
Wang Shu, a 41-year-old Singaporean, was jailed for four weeks and fined S$5,000 on Monday (Sep 12). If she cannot pay the fine, she will have to serve two weeks and three days' jail in default.
She pleaded guilty to two counts under the Wholesome Meat and Fish Act, one count of holding out a threat of injury to the reputation of a public servant and one count under the Animals and Birds Act. A fifth charge was taken into consideration.
The court heard that Wang, also known as Vicky, was the director of Thanksgiving Group. She did not have a valid import licence to import food or related commodities.
On the morning of Jul 29, 2020, Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers inspected a 40-footer container at Benoi Road after anomalies were detected.
The container arrived at Pasir Panjang Scanning Station from China the day before for import clearance. ICA officers detected different types of food in the container that were imported illegally, such as salted duck eggs and sausages.
The matter was referred to SFA for further investigations, and a total of 32.42kg of assorted meat products and 60 pieces or 3.6kg of salted duck eggs were found.
Wang had imported a total of 36kg of undeclared food items. These include 17.1kg of chicken and duck sausages, 500g of beef jerky and 60 salted duck eggs. The items were seized and three packets of pork and chicken sausages were infested with live maggots.
Investigations revealed that Wang had ordered all the items from China through the mobile application WeChat. She paid for the items through WeChat transfer to her China supplier.
Wang claimed that she did not know that she was not allowed to bring in such food from China and that this was her first time. She also claimed that she had brought the food in for her family's consumption, but it was revealed that she intended to sell it.
On Oct 6, 2020, she posted an advertisement on her personal Facebook page, intending to sell the pork and chicken sausages, and the beef jerky. She did not manage to do so as her consignment was detained by the SFA.
SFA OFFICERS VISIT WANG'S OFFICE
On Oct 29, 2020, SFA officers visited Wang's company in Pandan Loop to track her down as they had been unable to get hold of her via the phone or at her home.One of the officers took a statement from Wang at her office, and she confirmed that she had brought in the implicated food items from China on her own accord. She claimed that they were not meant for sale by her company.
During the interview, incriminating communication was detected on Wang's mobile phone, and she began to become uncooperative. The SFA officer's colleagues left the room as they did not want to further agitate Wang, leaving Wang alone with the SFA officer.
He tried to calm Wang down, but she refused, so he ended the interview. However, while the officer was packing his belongings, Wang repeatedly asked him to hand over the partially recorded statement.
The officer refused, and Wang blocked the door, which was the only exit out of the room. She closed the door, locked it and held onto the doorknob. She then threatened to shout "molest" if the officer refused to give her the statement.
She knew that the accusation was false, and that shouting molest would injure the SFA officer's reputation as it would cause others to perceive that he had committed a sexual offence.
Because of this threat, the SFA officer gave Wang the partially recorded statement, which she tore before opening the door. The officer then left the company with his colleagues.
For illegally importing unlicensed meat products, she could have been jailed for up to two years, fined up to S$50,000, or both.
For threatening injury to the reputation of a public servant, she could have been jailed for up to two years, fined, or both.
CAUSE FOR CONCERN
In a joint media release, the police, SFA and ICA said the method of concealment in this case was a "cause for concern" as similar methods may be used by people to smuggle security items into Singapore."ICA will continue to conduct security checks on passengers, goods and vehicles so as to safeguard Singapore’s security," the release said.
"SFA will continue to safeguard food safety through our integrated food safety system, which includes strict import regulations and enforcement, as well as working closely with border control agencies to deter illegal import across our borders."
