Crime news

QX179R SG

18-year-old arrested for spate of house break-ins in Hougang area

SINGAPORE : Police have nabbed an 18-year-old believed to be responsible for a series of break-ins in the Hougang area.

Since July, a spate of break-ins was reported where flat units with windows left unsecured or with louvres that are easily forced opened, were targeted.

It is believed the suspect had reached in through the window or used a long rod to "fish" out valuables such as wallets, laptops and mobile phones.

The cash and valuables stolen are said to amount to some S$3,000.

The suspect was finally caught on Wednesday when officers spotted him carrying a billiard cue and behaving suspiciously at a void deck in the vicinity of Hougang Ave 10.

If convicted, he could be jailed up to 14 years and caned.

- CNA /ls

QX179R SG

Police arrested another bogus HDB contractor

Police have arrested a man for allegedly posing as an HDB contractor.

The arrest comes just two weeks after they nabbed another man who's believed to have committed a similar offence.

The 32-year old Chinese man who they caught yesterday is allegedly involved in more than 20 cases of cheating.

It's believed that since July this year, the suspect would persuade his victims to replace their old wooden doors and metal gates with new ones.

He would allegedly issue them with an invoice after pocketing the cash handed over to him as payment for the items.

He would then dupe his victims by claiming he would install the doors and gates in a few days' time.

But police say, the promised items never materialised and the suspect would be uncontactable.

Through their investigations, officers from Clementi Police Division managed to arrest him along Geylang Road at around 6pm yesterday.

The suspect will be charged with cheating in court tomorrow.

If convicted, he could be jailed up to ten years and fined.

--938Live

QX179R SG

Police arrest pickpocketing duo

Police have arrested two Vietnamese believed to be responsible for a string of pickpocketing cases in the Bugis area.

One of them's a 20 year old man while his accomplice is a 60 year old woman.

Plainclothes officers from the Central Police Division were conducting anti-crime patrols around Bugis Junction shopping mall yesterday afternoon when they noticed the suspects tailing some of the passers-by.

The woman was then spotted peering into a shopper's bag while the man appeared to be acting as a lookout.

She allegedly slipped her hand into the bag and felt around its contents before walking away with her companion.

Officers moved in to arrest the duo after they witnessed this.

The suspects were found with four Ez-link cards and two mobile phones - all believed to be stolen from their victims.

The duo will be charged with theft in court tomorrow morning.

If convicted, they could be jailed up to three years and fined.

--938Live

QX179R SG

Police raid at COMEX

Police raided a retailer at COMEX IT fair today and seized 55 laptops installed with unlicensed Microsoft Windows XP Professional software worth more than $30,000.

The China-made "Losang" branded laptops were also affixed with recycled Certificates of Authenticity - a label to help buyers determine whether the software they are buying is genuine.

These certificates should not be sold independently of the software.

The raid took place after the authorities received a tip-off through the Business Software Alliance anti-piracy hotline yesterday.

Following this incident, Microsoft Singapore has urged consumers to exercise vigilance when purchasing computers.

They must also ensure that they do not end up with systems pre-installed with illegal software.

Jonathan Selvasegaram, Microsoft Southeast Asia's Corporate Attorney for Intellectual Property, says pirated software can pose a serious security threat.

That's because illegal programmes can lead to a corrupted system, loss of data and identity theft.

Investigations revealed that several hundred units of "Losang" laptops containing unlicensed software may have been imported into Singapore for sale during COMEX, says Mr Selvasegaram.

The annual fair, which kicked off yesterday, is organised by publisher of IT-related products, Eastern Directories.

Its General Manager, Melvin Koh.

"We are actually investigating the case together with Microsoft itself. But we have yet to come up with anything yet."

Under the Copyright Act, those found guilty of selling counterfeit software can be fined up to $10,000 for each article, jailed a maximum of five years or both.

--938Live

QX179R SG

Man arrested in connection with murder at Bedok Reservoir Rd

SINGAPORE : Police have arrested a 33-year-old man in connection with a murder at Block 616 Bedok Reservoir Road on September 12.

The deceased, a 50-year-old man, was found unconscious and injured at the void deck of the housing block at about 6.30pm.

He was sent to Changi General Hospital but died later that night.

Investigations revealed the deceased had been in a fight with the suspect, who was later arrested on September 18 at 10.45am.

The suspect will be charged in court on Saturday.

- CNA/ms

QX179R SG

Former police staff sergeant charged with graft

SINGAPORE: A former police staff sergeant has been charged with corruption.

He allegedly accepted bribes while attached to the Secret Societies Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department.

Court documents showed that on 7 December 2005 and 23 April 2006, Lim Kay Heng had accepted S$2,000 in cash from gambling operator Chua Chin Hoe and in return, Lim would give assistance to Chua "in police-related matters, as and when necessary".

He now faces two counts under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The accused resigned from the police force in 2007.

Under the Corruption Act, he may be fined up to S$100,000 or jailed for five years.

- CNA/vm

QX179R SG

Man sentenced to 5 years jail for slashing lover

A man who slashed his lover with a chopper and threw her three floors down a block of flats has been sentenced to five years in jail this morning at the High Court.

Diong Tiong Ngo, who's 52, had pleaded guilty last week to one count of attempted culpable homicide and one count of voluntarily causing grevious hurt with a dangerous weapon.

He had argued with his 51-year-old Indonesian lover on November 8 last year, after she threatened to leave him over a financial dispute.

He then slashed her with a chopper before lifting and flipping her over the parapet outside her Ang Mo Kio flat.

The woman's 14-year-old son was also slashed on his arms when he tried to stop Diong from hurting his mother.

--938Live

ColdSnowyIce SG

so many crime happening everyday.. but the tv news or newspaper did not report so much about whats happening.. this thread is good!!

QX179R SG

Police investigating housebreaking in Marsiling

Police are investigating a housebreaking and theft that occurred on Monday morning at Blk 136 Marsiling.

Two of the house occupants had left the house key at a corner of their main gate when they left the house.

At about 6.40am, another of the house occupants, an 11-year-old Malay boy saw a man he did not know, standing at a corner of the living room.

When questioned, the man then told the boy that he was looking for a phone to make a call.

He also alleged that he previously visited the house and had left his phone behind.

He then left the house.

It was later that the house occupants discovered that a handphone and a video camera totalling 1,150 dollars were missing from the unit.

The suspect is described to be a Malay man in his 40s, about 1.65m tall, and plump.

He was wearing a pale dark green cap and shirt, black pants and was carrying a sports bag.

Witnesses can call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000

--938Live

QX179R SG

Youths arrested for attempted robbery

Police have arrested two male youths who had tried to rob a woman in a lift at Holland Close early yesterday morning.

The Caucasian woman had reported the matter to the Police after they let her go as she had no money on her.

Officers from Clementi Police Division managed to establish the identity of one of the suspects, who was arrested yesterday evening at his home in Henderson Road.

This led to the arrest of the second suspect later that night at Telok Blangah.

Initial investigations revealed that both suspects are believed to be involved in a snatch theft at Tiong Bahru and a robbery at Holland Avenue.

The suspects will be charged in Court tomorrow.

If convicted, they can be sentenced to a maximum imprisonment term of 7 years and be liable to caning.

--938Live

QX179R SG

Police bust 2 syndicates involved in sale of fake branded apparel, shoes

SINGAPORE : Police have busted two local syndicates involved in the sale of counterfeit soccer jerseys and shoes in a span of just one week.

The raid, which ended on Tuesday, resulted in the arrest of six men and one woman, aged between 20 and 53 years.

More than 5,000 pieces of soccer jerseys and branded shoes infringing the trademarks of well-known brands were seized.

The estimated street value of the apparel and shoes is S$100,000. They were taken from a three makeshift trade fair stalls located at Choa Chu Kang and Serangoon, as well as a repository at Yishun.

Assistant Director of the Specialised Crime Division, CID, Superintendent Goh Lam Kiong said: "Police take a serious view of intellectual property rights violations, and will continue to take strict enforcement action, leveraging on intelligence and other capabilities, to clamp down hard on the sales and distribution of counterfeit goods in Singapore.

"Persons involved in the sales and distribution of such counterfeit goods risk a heavy fine and imprisonment if they are arrested," he added.

Those found guilty of possessing infringing articles for the purposes of trade or manufacture could be fined up to S$100,000, or jailed for up to five years, or both.

- CNA /ls

QX179R SG

3 youths believed to be involved in armed robberies arrested

SINGAPORE: Police have arrested three youths aged between 16 and 19 years old who are believed to be involved in a series of armed robberies island-wide.

In recent days, police received six reports of armed robberies committed by three male youths in various parts of Singapore, including Hougang, Bedok Reservoir, Crawford Lane, and Jurong West.

In these cases, the culprits would use knives to threaten the victims into surrendering their valuables.

Simultaneous raids were conducted by police at various locations in Bedok North and Chai Chee.

On October 22 at about 4.30 pm, the first 17-year-old suspect was spotted in the vicinity of Bedok North where he was known to frequent. The officers immediately moved in and placed him under arrest.

Two knives which are believed to have been used in the commission of the robberies were also subsequently recovered from the suspect's house.

Another operation was immediately mounted to apprehend the other two accomplices.

Police managed to locate the second 16-year-old suspect at one of his favourite haunts in the Bedok area.

A parang and a chopper which are believed to belong to the second suspect were also recovered from the vicinity.

The third 19-year-old suspect was finally arrested at his residence in Pasir Ris on October 23.

The three suspects will be charged in court on Saturday.

- CNA/vm

QX179R SG

Company and director convicted of abusing tax exemption scheme

Pressure vessels manufacturer, Steel Forming and Rolling Specialists and its Managing Director, Gan Oh Boon, was convicted of tax evasion this afternoon.

This is the first company and director to be convicted of abusing a tax exemption scheme for new companies in Singapore.

Investigations revealed that the company set up six related companies in December 2004 to abuse the scheme.

The company included fictitious expenses amounting to some 1.6 million dollars in its audited statements of accounts for the years 2004 to 2006, although no work or services were performed by them for the company.

Steel Forming and Rolling Specialists consequently under-reported its profits by the same amount in its income tax returns for the Years of Assessment 2005 to 2007.

Investigations also showed that Gan had omitted employment income in the form of benefits-in-kind, made up of hire-purchase instalments for his private car and his other private expenses paid for by the company.

Mr Gan was jailed for two weeks and ordered to pay almost 997 thousand dollars in fines and penalties.

The company was ordered to pay over a million dollars in fines and penalties.

--938Live

QX179R SG

Serial snatch thief arrested

A 22 year-old man believed to be involved in a series of snatch thefts at Tampines Street 32 and Street 33 was arrested yesterday.

His first victim was a 59 year-old woman whose handbag was snatched away on 20th October.

The suspect is believed to have committed four other cases of snatch thefts between 21st and 26th October in the same area.

Police noted that the offences were committed between 8 am and 2 pm.

Lone elderly female were targeted.

After conducting stake outs and intensive enquiries, police managed to arrest the suspect who matched the description given by the victims.

The suspect was behaving suspiciously and may have been planning a similar act before police moved in and apprehended him.

He will be charged in court tomorrow and if convicted faces imprisonment between one to seven years.

He is also liable to be caned.

--938Live

QX179R SG

ICA officer charged

A senior immigration officer was charged in court today with accepting more than 1,500 dollars in bribes.

54-year-old Mah Chin Phock faced eight charges of taking bribes in the form of cash and loans between June and November 2007.

Mah was a Senior Immigration and Checkpoints Specialist when he accepted the bribes from a coffee shop owner, Chia Ngee Seng.

Chia, had provided "U-turn" services to female China nationals entering Singapore via Woodlands checkpoint.

These foreign women would go to Malaysia for a short period and return to Singapore to get their social visit passes extended.

Chia had sought the assistance of Mah to facilitate the entry of these China women by conducting less stringent checks on them.

In return, Chia had on eight occasions, given Mah bribes with amounts varying from 100 to 500 dollars.

Chia also bribed Mah's supervisor, Matthew Goh, with 4D tickets.

He did this in return for Goh to turn a blind eye on his colleague's illegal activities.

Goh was sentenced to 3 months in jail in March this year.

And Chia was sentenced to 10 months' imprisonment last week.

If convicted, Mah could be jailed for up to five years or fined up to 100,000 dollars, or both.

--938Live

QX179R SG

Former MOM officer charged with cheating, forgery

SINGAPORE: He allegedly ran a food stall without a licence and forged one when he needed to apply for an employment pass for a stall helper.

On Friday, Chye Siew Kok, 59, a former Ministry of Manpower (MOM) corporate service officer, was charged in court with cheating and forgery.

In July 2006, Chye had forged a National Environment Agency food stall licence for his Xing Hua (Putien) Cuisine coffee shop stall at Foch Road, which he operated with a business partner, to deceive MOM.

The next month, Chye told MOM twice that his stall had a valid licence, so that he could obtain the employment pass.

If convicted, Chye can be jailed up to seven years with a fine, on each count of cheating. For forgery, the maximum jail term is 10 years, with a fine.

- TODAY/so

QX179R SG

Break-in at Clementi

A family lost some 8,000 dollars worth of jewellery and more than 1,000 dollars cash after their home was broken into on Friday.

They had secured their flat located on the second floor of Block 343, Clementi Avenue 5 before leaving for work at around 830 am that day.

The mother came home at around 630 pm to find a drawer and a cabinet in her room ransacked.

She noticed that some valuables were missing and the window grilles had been forced open.

The woman informed her daughter about the break-in who came home and found more valuables missing.

If you have any information on this case, you can call the police hotline at 188 255 00 00.

--938Live

QX179R SG

Foreigners peddling illegal cigarettes arrested

SINGAPORE: Officers from the Singapore Customs and Immigration & Checkpoints Authority have arrested 15 Indonesians in an operation to flush out peddlers of illegal cigarettes at Yew Tee Industrial Estate.

Fourteen of them were illegal immigrants and they have been charged in court.

The foreigners were aged between 25 and 38 years.

Over 1,000 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes worth S$9,400 were seized in the operation last Tuesday.

The unpaid duty and GST came close to S$8,500.

- CNA/ir

QX179R SG

7 employers charged for breaching Employment Act

SINGAPORE: Seven employers were charged in the Subordinate Courts this week for offences under the Employment Act.

The Ministry of Manpower said five were charged for failing to provide their workers with the statutory benefits under the Act.

These included failing to or under-providing their employees with annual leave, rest day, and other infringements.

Two other employers were charged for not paying salaries to their workers.

One employer was also convicted this week for infringements under the Act.

A cleaning company, Lian Cheng Contracting and its Director Cher Peng Ho, failed to provide annual leave for four employees over a period of two to four years.

There were also unauthorised deductions from the salaries of three employees between January and April 2008.

Each pleaded guilty to 15 charges.

The company was fined S$8,500.

Cher was fined S$5,500.

MOM said since January, 20 companies had been prosecuted for Employment Act infringements.

- CNA/vm

QX179R SG

Snatch Theft at Blk 573 Ang Mo Kio

A woman in her mid 20s lost her handphone and wallet to a snatch thief in Ang Mo Kio.

The incident happened at Blk 573 at around 930 pm last Friday.

The woman was on the phone when a man came from behind and pushed her to the ground.

She fell and dropped both her handphone and wallet.

The man picked up both items and ran off towards Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10.

The suspect is about 1.7 metres tall and has fair complexion.

He was last seen wearing a black jacket and white bermudas.

Witnesses of the incident are to call the Police Hotline at 1800-255-0000.

--938Live

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