Corpun file 23423

The Straits Times, Singapore, 3 August 2011

Loan-shark runner struck at 31 flats

He gets 7 years' jail and 24 strokes for 2-week harassment spree

By Elena Chong

A PROJECT manager who became a loan-shark runner spent two weeks splashing paint, setting fires, writing graffiti and chain-locking the gates of 31 flats belonging to debtors.

Soh Hann Kwang, 36, pleaded guilty to 11 counts of harassment and two of driving without a licence and insurance coverage.

Yesterday, he was sentenced to seven years' jail and 24 strokes of the cane for what he did to the flats in June; for the driving offence, he was banned from driving for a year.

A district court heard that he got into financial difficulties last August by splashing out on a wedding he could ill afford, and took out $7,500 in loans from two banks and $11,000 from a dozen licensed moneylenders.

In May, still financially stretched, he called a number on a namecard left on the windscreen of his wife's car, and borrowed $500 from an unlicensed moneylender named "Cash".

The following month, he borrowed $500 and $1,000 from two other unlicensed moneylenders.

When he could not repay these loans in early June, Cash, also known as Ah Boon, offered him a job as a runner to intimidate debtors into paying up.

Ah Boon's "rate card" was as follows: $150 for setting fire to each unit, $70 for splashing paint and scribbling on the wall, and an extra $10 if a padlock was used in the harassment.

Soh, who was to "work" from 10am to 7pm daily, accepted the job as he was afraid the loan sharks would harass his family.

The court heard that he drove his wife's car to various locations from Ang Mo Kio and Jurong to Sengkang for his "job", even though he had no valid driving licence.

Each time he received a text message containing an address from Ah Boon, he would delete it and head there.

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At the scene, he would use a marker pen to scribble "O$P$" -- loan-shark shorthand for "owe money, pay money" -- and the debtor's unit and cellphone number on the wall.

Then he would open a can of red or orange paint and splash its contents on the main door. Occasionally, he would either start a fire at the door or use a bicycle lock to secure the gate.

Soh was picked up by the police on June 14 during an islandwide operation against an unlicensed moneylending syndicate.

Ah Boon's identity has not been ascertained.

Soh could have been jailed for up to five years, fined up to $50,000 and caned up to six strokes on each charge of harassment.

Last year, harsher penalties were incorporated into the Moneylenders Act.

The number of unlicensed moneylending and harassment cases soared to a record high of 18,649 in 2009. Last year, the number fell by about 10 per cent to 16,833 cases.

Corpun file 23448

The Straits Times, Singapore, 13 August 2011

Dishwasher molested teenager in lift

By Elena Chong

WHILE at home one night, a dishwasher felt sexually aroused and decided to look for girls, a district court heard yesterday.

Chinese national Li Yan (right), 20, went to Haig Road at about midnight on June 29 and waited for several hours until he saw a Vietnamese woman get out of a taxi alone.

He followed the 18-year-old victim, who was in Singapore on a social visit, into a lift and said he wanted to have sex with her.

She ignored his advances and said she would call the police.

When she tried to move away, he pulled her hand towards him and cupped her mouth to prevent her from screaming.

He warned her that he would punch her if she continued to struggle or shout for help. She became frightened and began to cry.

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Li put his hand under her bra and molested her. He also pressed himself against her. She shouted for help. When the lift reached the ground floor, he fled.

A resident who was waiting for the lift managed to grab Li, who struggled free and ran towards another block. Another resident gave chase after he realised something was amiss.

The two men detained Li in a carpark and called the police. Yesterday, Li was sentenced to four years in jail and six strokes of the cane. He could have been jailed for up to 10 years; caning is limited to 24 strokes.

Corpun file 23466

The Straits Times, Singapore, 25 August 2011

15 years, 12 strokes for stabbing death

Jobless man chided for 'irrational act' of knifing man over pushing row

By Elizabeth Soh

A JOBLESS man was yesterday given 15 years in jail and 12 strokes of the cane for stabbing another man to death over a pushing incident.

Tan Keng Huat, 36, convicted of culpable homicide, was chided by Justice Steven Chong for having committed an "irrational act" that led to a "completely unnecessary loss of a life".

Tan had in June 2009 stabbed Mr John Vettamooto, then 46, in the chest with a diving knife, causing a chest wound 18cm deep and 5cm wide.

Mr John died in hospital 11½ hours later.

An argument had broken out earlier when Mr John accidentally bumped into Tan's older brother, Mr Tan Thian Chye, 41, at the foot of a block of flats in Redhill Close.

The argument turned into a fist fight, during which Mr John yanked off Mr Tan's ivory necklace and threw it on the ground.

Tan Keng Huat and another brother, Tian Sze, when told of this incident, confronted Mr John.

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Tian Sze went at Mr John with a plastic chair, while Keng Huat stabbed him in the chest and slashed his cheek twice.

The same night, the two brothers fled to Malaysia, where they went into hiding.

Tian Sze was arrested, extradited three weeks later and convicted of voluntarily causing hurt. He was sentenced to two months in jail.

Keng Huat was arrested by Malaysian police in August that year for overstaying.

In mitigation, his court-appointed lawyer Christopher Bridges said his client was remorseful, had a lower-than-average IQ of 72, and had suffered from depression while on the run.

This was not Tan Keng Huat's first brush with the law. He has served jail time for drug possession, drug consumption and house breaking since 1992.