Ex-PKMS chief to plead guilty to charges involving
contraband cigarettes
SINGAPORE : The former president of the Singapore
Malay National Organisation (PKMS), Ali Asjadi, told a district
court on Friday that he intends to plead guilty to six of the 12
charges he currently faces involving contraband
cigarettes.
But the case has been adjourned to October 7 as
court papers were not in order.
Ali, 54, was offered a bail of S$200,000 but he told
District Judge May Mesenas that he is unable to raise this
amount.
The cigarettes he allegedly dealt with are worth S$255,196.
They have an unpaid duty totalling S$204,082 and the unpaid Goods
and Services Tax on them come up to S$17,863.
Ali was stripped of party membership earlier this month after he
was arrested for allegedly dealing with the some 600 kilogrammes of
cigarettes.
Ali, who may face millions of dollars in fines if convicted, can
also be jailed up to three years for each charge.
In two of the charges, he allegedly worked with a 40-year-old
Indonesian man, Atlis Suryanto, who pleaded guilty on Friday to two
of the four charges against him.
Atlis pleaded for leniency and told Judge Mesenas that he is the
sole breadwinner in his family, with three young children to
support.
Atlis, who was here on a social visit pass, will be back in court
next Friday.
He was offered a bail of S$100,000.
- CNA/ms