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Malay Mail
07-08-2025
- Malay Mail
Singaporean thought friend stole S$25,700, made him drink urine as punishment, now gets six-month jail sentence
SINGAPORE, Aug 7 — A man who dragged an acquaintance into a shady bank account scheme ended up humiliating him after wrongly thinking he had stolen money. Singaporean Tan Ming Chuan, 28, was sentenced to six months in jail and fined S$300 (about RM1,035) over the case, news portal CNA reported today. He had recruited the 25-year-old man, identified in court as A1, to open and hand over control of a corporate bank account in exchange for cash. But A1's father found out and reported it to the police, leading to the account being frozen with over S$25,700 (around RM88,700) inside. Tan and his friend, Cheong Wee Kiat, didn't know about the report and assumed A1 had kept the money for himself. They confronted him late one night at the void deck of his home along with four others. After Cheong allegedly punched him, A1's friend sent them S$800 (about RM2,760) to calm things down. But the group wanted to 'punish' him and urinated into a 1.5-litre bottle, then told A1 to drink it or fight them. A1 drank most of it and poured the rest over his head when told to. Tan filmed the incident but deleted the video later. The judge called the act 'utterly deplorable' and said the sentence had to reflect public outrage over bullying and humiliation. Cheong's case is still pending.
CNA
06-08-2025
- CNA
Man gets jail for forcing victim to drink urine in 'deplorable' incident
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 acquaintance's father, who then lodged a police report. 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.
Straits Times
14-07-2025
- Straits Times
Man, 40, charged for collecting $150k in cash and jewellery on behalf of scammers
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Tan Ming Chuan was arrested one day after the police received a report of a scam involving a fake official from MAS on July 11. SINGAPORE - A man who allegedly collected cash and jewellery from a government official impersonation scam victim and passed the loot to the scammers has been hauled to court. On July 14, Tan Ming Chuan, 40, was handed one charge of assisting another person to retain their benefits from criminal conduct. Tan was arrested one day after the police received a report of a scam involving a fake official from the Monetary Authority of Singapore on July 11. The victim left about $150,000 worth of cash and jewellery at a designated location for Tan, who acted as a cash mule for the scammer, the police said. After conducting extensive ground inquiries and follow-up investigations, officers from the Anti-Scam Command arrested the man on July 12. According to preliminary investigations, Tan was purportedly involved in other government official impersonation scams. He had allegedly been instructed to collect cash from scam victims and hand it over to an unknown person. Tan is currently remanded at the Central Police Division. His case will be mentioned again on July 21. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Singapore to train more aviation and maritime officials from around the world Singapore Special edition SG60 Nets card now on sale for $10 Singapore Same person, but different S'porean Chinese names? How have such naming practices evolved? Business Singapore's economy sees surprise expansion in Q2 despite US tariff uncertainty: Advance estimate Singapore Jail for woman who opened bank accounts that received over $640.7m, including scam proceeds Singapore Driver assisting with police probe after e-bike rider injured in hit-and-run accident in Hougang Sport After Olympic heartbreak, Singaporean swimmer Chantal Liew turns pain into inspiration Business From wellness zone to neurodivergent room: How companies are creating inviting, inclusive offices If convicted, he could be jailed for up to 10 years and fined up to $500,000. Government official impersonation scams have been one of the top ruses in recent years, with victims losing $151.3 million in 2024 and $92.5 million in 2023. In June alone, victims of government official impersonation scams lost at least $6.7 million, the police had said earlier. At least 80 cases were reported that month. Victims would receive unsolicited calls from scammers impersonating officials from banks such as DBS Bank and Maybank, financial institutions such as Income Insurance and UnionPay, or government agencies such as the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, said the police. When victims denied being involved, they would be transferred to another scammer claiming to be a government official such as from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, either local or China police, or the Ministry of Law. Scammers would then accuse victims of being involved in criminal activities such as money laundering, and ask them to withdraw money, purchase gold bars, or declare valuables they owned to be handed over to unknown individuals for 'investigation'. In some cases, victims were instructed to place these items in discreet locations for collection instead. Victims would realise that they had been scammed only when the scammers became uncontactable or when they sought verification with the police. In a news release regarding Tan's arrest, police reminded people 'never to transfer monies, hand monies or other valuables to any unknown persons or persons whose identity you did not verify'.
