SINGAPORE: A woman illegally brought in 36kg of sausages, meat and duck eggs from Cina, intending to sell them on Facebook.
When caught and asked to give a statement to some Singapore Food Agency (SFA) officer, she threatened to yell “molest”, knowing it could injure his popularity.
Wang Shu, a 41-year-old Singaporean, was jailed for four weeks and fined S$5, 000 upon Monday (Sep 12). If she cannot pay the good, she will have to serve two weeks and 3 days’ jail in default.
She pleaded guilty to 2 counts under the Wholesome Meat and Seafood Act, one rely of holding out there a threat associated with injury to the trustworthiness of a public servant and one count underneath the Animals and Chickens Act. A fifth charge was taken into account.
The court heard that Wang, also known as Vicky, was your director of Thanksgiving holiday Group. She did not have a valid transfer licence to import food or related commodities.
For the morning of Jul 29, 2020, Migration and Checkpoints Expert (ICA) officers checked out a 40-footer pot at Benoi Street after anomalies were detected.
The container arrived at Pasir Panjang Scanning Place from China the day before for transfer clearance. ICA officers detected different types of food in the container that were imported illegally, for example salted duck eggs and sausages.
The matter was known SFA for further inspections, and a total of 32. 42kg associated with assorted meat products and 60 pieces or even 3. 6kg of salted duck eggs were found.
Wang had imported a total of 36kg of undeclared food items. These include 17. 1kg of chicken plus duck sausages, 500g of beef jerky and 60 salted duck eggs. The things were seized and three packets of pork and chicken sausages were infested with live maggots.
Investigations revealed that Wang experienced ordered all the items from China through the mobile application WeChat. She paid for the items through WeChat transfer to her China supplier.
Wang claimed that she did not know that she was not allowed to bring in such foods from China which this was her first time. She also stated that she got brought the food in for her family’s usage, but it was revealed that she meant to sell it.
Upon Oct 6, 2020, she posted an advertisement on her individual Facebook page, intending to sell the chicken and chicken sausages, and the beef jerky. She did not find a way to do so as the girl consignment was detained by the SFA.
SFA OFFICERS GO TO WANG’S OFFICE
On Oct twenty nine, 2020, SFA officials visited Wang’s corporation in Pandan Cycle to track her straight down as they had been not able to get hold of her via the phone or at her home.
One of the officers had taken a statement from Wang at the girl office, and she confirmed that she got brought in the suggested as a factor food items from The far east on her own contract. She claimed that they were not meant for selling by her company.
During the interview, incriminating communication has been detected on Wang’s mobile phone, and she began to become uncooperative. The SFA officer’s colleagues left the room because they did not want to further agitate Wang, leaving Wang alone using the SFA officer.
He tried to relaxed Wang down, but she refused, therefore he ended the particular interview. However , while the officer was packing his belongings, Wang repeatedly asked your pet to hand over the partially recorded statement.
The officer refused, and Wang obstructed the door, which was the only exit out of the space. She closed the door, locked it plus held onto the doorknob. She then threatened to yell “molest” if the officer refused to give her the statement.
She knew the accusation was false, and that shouting molest would injure the particular SFA officer’s status as it would result in others to perceive that he had dedicated a sexual offence.
Because of this threat, the SFA official gave Wang the particular partially recorded declaration, which she tore before opening the door. The officer then left the company together with his colleagues.
For illegally importing unlicensed meat products, the lady could have been jailed for up to two years, fined as much as S$50, 000, or even both.
With regard to threatening injury to the reputation of a public servant, she could have been jailed for up to two years, fined, or both.
CAUSE PERTAINING TO CONCERN
In a joint media release, the police, SFA plus ICA said the method of concealment in cases like this was a “cause to get concern” as similar methods may be used simply by people to smuggle security items into Singapore.
“ICA will continue to conduct protection checks on people, goods and vehicles so as to safeguard Singapore’s security, ” the discharge said.
“SFA will continue to safeguard food safety through our integrated meals safety system, including strict import rules and enforcement, as well as working closely with border control firms to deter unlawful import across our borders. ”