SINGAPORE: A man recruiting people willing to sell bank account information for cash roped in an acquaintance into the scheme.
However, this was uncovered by the father of the acquaintance, which resulted in a police report being filed. As a result, the bank account involved was frozen with about S$25,700 (US$19,960) inside.
Thinking that the acquaintance had pocketed the money, the recruiter and his friends confronted him, urinated into an empty 1.5-litre bottle and demanded that he drink from it or fight them.
The 25-year-old man drank about three-quarters of the urine in the bottle and was made to pour the rest over his head.
On Wednesday (Aug 6), the recruiter Tan Ming Chuan was sentenced to jail for four months and eight weeks and fined S$300.
He pleaded guilty to one count of criminal intimidation in relation to the urine incident and one count under the Computer Misuse Act linked to the relinquishing of a bank account. A third charge was taken into consideration.
WHAT HAPPENED
The court heard that Tan, a 28-year-old Singaporean, got to know a person known only as Derrick in late 2021.
He accepted a job offer from Derrick to recruit people who wanted to relinquish their bank accounts. Tan would receive S$800 to S$1,000 from Derrick for each bank account provided and keep about S$300 as commission and hand S$500 to the person owning the bank account.
Sometime in March 2022, Tan was introduced by his friend, 26-year-old co-accused Cheong Wee Kiat, to a 25-year-old man named in court papers only as A1.
A1 was Cheong’s friend and wanted to earn “fast cash”. The trio met up at a LAN shop in Tampines where Tan guided A1 to register a company in his name.
He then guided A1 to open a corporate bank account online. A1 handed his internet banking credentials and ATM card for the bank account to Tan, who in turn handed these over to Derrick.
A1 began receiving bank statements for the account at his home address. About a month later, in April 2022, A1’s father saw the bank statements indicating significant sums of money being transferred from unknown sources.
He confronted A1 about the account and they eventually went to a bank branch to close it. A1 then lodged a police report on the bank’s advice.
As a result, the account was frozen with S$25,719.43 inside. Investigations showed that a total of S$147,100.57 had flowed through the account. However, the funds were not traced to any police reports.
Neither Cheong nor A1 received the payments promised for their roles, but Tan received a commission from Derrick, which he spent on alcohol and clubbing.
THE URINE INCIDENT
A1 had called Cheong and Tan to tell them that his father had discovered the bank account.
Cheong and Tan told him not to betray them, but A1 cut off contact with them after making the police report, fearing that he would be asked to make payments for the frozen funds.
Unaware of the report or that the account had been frozen, Tan and Cheong assumed A1 had closed the account and kept the money. They decided to confront him.
On Sep 12, 2022, Tan met up with Cheong and Cheong’s girlfriend, deciding that they were going to confront A1.
That night, at about 11pm, they went to the void deck of A1’s residence with three other people.
At about 11.30pm, the group of six spotted A1. Tan and Cheong confronted A1 about the money and asked him to repay them.
A1 insisted that he did not receive the money. He later said he would contact a friend and slowly work to pay off the debt.
Cheong allegedly punched A1 in the face, causing a cut beside his eyebrow.
A1 did not retaliate, keeping still as he feared for his safety. His friend arrived and transferred a sum of S$800.
At some point in the night, the group of six bought and drank two 1.5-litre bottles of green tea.
At about 1am the next morning, Tan and Cheong decided to “punish” A1 and pressure him to pay up.
They and two others urinated into one of the empty bottles and handed it to A1, demanding that he drink it or fight them. A1 drank about three-quarters of the urine. When Cheong’s girlfriend noted that the bottle was not empty, Cheong and Tan told A1 to pour the rest over his head.
He complied. Tan recorded the incident on his phone but later deleted the footage.
Around 2.30am, Cheong took A1’s bank and identity card as collateral for the money owed. The group then left. A1 lodged a police report the next day.
UNNATURAL AND DEEPLY HUMILIATING: PROSECUTOR
The prosecutor sought five months and four to six weeks’ jail for Tan, along with a fine of S$300 to disgorge the profit he made over the bank account.
She said handing over bank accounts was a serious offence. As for the urine incident, she said there was a real and significant threat of injury to A1.
It was aggravated by the group nature of the act, that it was “unnatural and humiliating”, the fact that it occurred in public, and that Tan recorded it.
Defence lawyer Kenii Takashima sought three months and six weeks’ jail and a fine of S$300 instead. He said Tan had deleted the video and did not circulate it.
In sentencing, District Judge Koo Zhi Xuan called the offence “utterly deplorable”.
An appropriately severe sentence must be applied to reflect society’s disapproval of the bullying and extreme humiliation against A1, he said.
Cheong’s case is pending. A1 is listed as Tan’s co-accused in the offence of relinquishing a bank account.
