SINGAPORE: A man who was jailed in 2018 for not paying for limousine chauffeuring services reoffended again when he was released, as he “liked taking private transportation but could not pay for it”.
Over a month, he took such limousine services 42 times without paying for them.
Chua Kun Shan, 30, was jailed for six months on Tuesday (Aug 29) for his latest offences.
He pleaded guilty to three counts of obtaining services dishonestly, with a fourth charge taken into consideration.
The court heard that Chua was sentenced to six weeks’ jail in February 2018 for forging a cheque for S$5,805 (US$4,299) to a limousine company after he was unable to pay their invoice for services rendered over 12 days.
Despite this, he reoffended in 2021 in the same manner. As he liked taking private transportation but did not have money to pay for it, he searched online for limousine chauffeuring services that would allow for payment afterwards, said the prosecutor.
He requested weekly payment arrangements from four limousine companies – Maven Limousine Services, RMJ Alliance, Knight Limousine and One LimousinE Singapore.
When the time for payment came, Chua would avoid making payment despite multiple reminders. After the gig was up with one company, he would move on to another.
On Feb 14, 2021, the chief operating officer of RMJ Alliance saw a message in a limousine group chat warning about a client named “Bentley Chua” who owed money to limousine companies.
He noticed that “Bentley Chua” had the same number and address as the culprit who owed him money, so he lodged a police report.
In total, Chua owed the four limousine companies about S$8,600 for their services.
He has since made restitution of S$4,665.
The prosecutor sought five to seven months’ jail for Chua, citing the principle of escalation, as he has “clearly not been deterred despite his previous imprisonment term”.
The penalty for the offence of obtaining services dishonestly is a maximum of 10 years’ jail, a fine, or both.
