South-East Asia (Page 1,335)

A 58-year-old man was charged with cheating on Tampines Town Council on Wednesday ( Mar 13 ) by overpaying for replacement water pumps.

Singaporean Zhang Shuyan is accused of two matters of stealing.

He allegedly submitted 206 invoices between April 2016 and July 2017 to pay the town council more than S$ 380, 000 ( US$ 285, 456 ).

He served as the director of FYH Integrated, a company that the city council had contracted to carry out pumps upkeep projects for the estate during that time.

According to court documents, he reportedly deceived the city government into believing that FYH had installed vertical multi-stage sends when it had actually installed vertical single-stage pumps.

The police claimed that single-stage water pump are” significantly less expensive” than multi-stage ones.

After Zhang submitted 102 receipts, the city council paid S$ 195, 264 to FYH from April 1 through December 31. After receiving 104 payments, S next paid S$ 185, 286 to FYH from January 1 through July 31 the following month.

How much of the city council’s overpayments were made public and how Zhang’s alleged crimes were exposed are still undetermined.

Zhang did n’t say whether he would enter a guilty plea on Wednesday. He was given a$ 50, 000 loan and is scheduled to appear in court on April 3.

Those found guilty of cheating face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and fines.

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SINGAPORE: A woman who cheated her boss at a real estate firm into giving her S$3.7 million (US$2.8 million) over almost a decade, including his life savings, was sentenced to 12 years’ jail on Wednesday (Mar 13).

Lynne Charlotte James persistently lied to the victim that she had become bankrupt and posed as government officials in emails to back up her lies.

After the 69-year-old man depleted his savings, he and his wife sold two of their condominium units as well as their personal possessions to raise funds for James.

When the couple ran out of cash, he resorted to borrowing S$1.1 million from his niece, who eventually flagged the case to the authorities.

The couple now cannot even afford to buy a two-room Housing Board flat, and stay in a rented home.

James, a 47-year-old Singaporean, was convicted of five counts of cheating last week. Seven other similar charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.

She has not made any restitution to the victim.

She will begin serving her sentence on Apr 16 after asking for time to take care of her children and mother, and remains out on bail of S$100,000.

She pleaded guilty midway through her trial, which was delayed after she claimed she was suffering an asthmatic attack and could not breathe.

VICTIM SUFFERED STROKE

District Judge Shawn Ho told the court on Wednesday that it was a “heartrending case”.

Due to the stress of the case, the victim suffered a stroke and almost divorced his wife. He currently has cancer.

His wife’s mental health took a downturn and she sought psychiatric help, but had to stop treatment because they could not afford the medical bills. Their daughter also harmed herself.

The judge noted that James sent hundreds of forged emails to the victim and “concocted an elaborate lie”.

“You cheated the victim 2,253 times over almost 10 years,” he added.

The court previously heard that James began working at the unidentified real estate firm around 2006, reporting to the victim.

In 2008, she began having financial difficulties and faced bankruptcy. She devised a plan to cheat the victim, whose name was redacted from court documents.

James told the victim that she had become bankrupt and lied to him that the Insolvency and Public Trustee’s Office (IPTO) had retained funds in her bankruptcy estate.

She asked the victim to help her pay various purported fees to IPTO so that IPTO would release the funds to her.

The man believed James and gave her sums of money. As time passed, James demanded more and more cash from him, telling him that she would return him all the money he had given her once IPTO released the funds in her bankruptcy estate.

The victim was convinced that he had to keep transferring money to James, as she said she could not return the money he had already given her if IPTO did not release her funds, and he wanted to recover the substantial sums.

James also created fictitious emails from government agencies such as IPTO and the Ministry of Law to corroborate her lies.

In the forged emails, the government agencies purportedly demanded various fees payable to IPTO.

James also created fake emails from the Attorney-General’s Chambers and judges such as Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon asking her to continue paying fees to IPTO.

She told the victim that if he stopped paying money, the funds he had already sunk in would be confiscated and he would not be able to get his money back.

She warned him not to report the matter, saying that IPTO would confiscate her funds if they found out he was helping her and he would not be able to get any money back.

For more than nine years between May 2008 and October 2017, the victim transferred S$3,677,537.03 to James over 2,253 transactions.

James used the money to repay her loans from moneylenders and to settle her personal expenses.

“EXTREMELY SORRY”

On Wednesday, District Judge Ho said that while James did not have a prior criminal history, she could not be considered a first-time offender due to her multiple offences.

He added that in terms of mitigating factors, she had saved resources by pleading guilty but this was after a few days of trial. She also aborted three plead-guilty mentions.

James’ lawyer, Mr Mohamed Baiross from IRB Law, told the court that she was sorry for her actions and was not going to downplay what she did.

“My client has very little to go on before the court as to how remorseful she feels,” added Mr Baiross, who sought nine years’ jail for his client.

“She is extremely sorry and understands what happened to the victim, yet she’s before the court to say she’s deserving of at least some mercy, some leniency.”

Deputy Public Prosecutor Edwin Soh asked for 12-and-a-half years’ jail. He told the court that the victim had to travel to court on various days of the trial, waiting long hours and not knowing if the hearing would proceed due to James’ visits to hospital.

“The accused’s crimes were extremely heinous and destroyed the lives of the victim and his family members,” the prosecutor added.

“Despite the immense harm she caused, she has shown little remorse.”

For each charge of cheating, James could have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined.

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During this colorful season, FairPrice Group will even offer a number of pleasant actions. On April 20 at&nbsp, there will be two Hari Raya prevent events. Members can play colorful games and use a photo kiosk at Bedok North and Bukit Batok.

Additionally, there will be deals on  Hari Raya and Ramadan basics until April 17 are available on this site.

In a media discharge, FairPrice Group CEO Vipul Chawla stated that while Ramadan is a time for reflection, group meeting, and reflection, Singaporeans are both aware of its value.

We are appreciative of the opportunity to help our Arab customers during this time by engaging in community service, and we will continue to work toward ensuring that everyone can access the season’s necessities. “”

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Bubur Lambuk, a delicately spiced rice cereal these enriched with sweetened coco milk, is a product of 21 On Rajah in keeping with Ramadan customs. A griddle station serves up pungent dishes like smoked lamb chops, European sheep sausage, and satay on the weekends.

The iftar banquet is offered daily from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. from March 12 through March 9. Pricing start at S$ 68 for adults and S$ 34 for children.

CUBA

In case you were wondering, Cuba is the Malay equivalent of” test.” Additionally, Nazrin SY, the une restaurant of Malay fine dining restaurant Sou, owns the home-based business. He has set aside his weekends to offer nasi ulam with ayam percik buah keluak ( S$ 20 per portion ) and a pair of caneles ( 10 % ) throughout Ramadan.

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According to the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises ( ASME), SMEs that employ foreigners on EPs typically do so for specific projects with fixed durations.

” The increase ( in minimum salary ) would mean that they have to consider the usage of such EP holders quite carefully”, said the association’s president Ang Yuit.

But more widely, most SMEs would not be affected because merely specific businesses rely on EP buyers, he added. By and large, SMEs are hiring and developing native Singaporeans where they can for positions that fall under the EP owner income range.

Some business even hire fewer immigrants. &nbsp, Most native law firms, for one, tend to rely on Singaporeans more than foreign people, said TSMP’s Mr Lim. ” Hiring decisions ( at TSMP ) would n’t be affected… because EP holders are a very small minority in our firm anyway”.

LOOKING LOCAL

Asked to comment on the increase in EP qualifying wages, OCBC bank said&nbsp, ethnicity and other signs like age, race, gender and spirituality were no factors in its hiring process.

According to Mr. Ernest Phang, managing director of party animal tools,” we look for individuals with the right skills and experience and who would be the best meet.”

The company’s compensation plan considers marketplace profitability, economic conditions and efficiency by the organization and individual, he added.

Singapore- founded OMS Oilfield Services, which has activities in six nations, &nbsp, already employs two Album holders who would not meet the new income requirement.

It acknowledged the government’s intentions in setting EP qualifying salaries, but noted that&nbsp, its native talent pool to source from is smaller because Singaporeans generally avoid blue- collar jobs.

” Oftentimes, these jobs require a specific skillset required for certain positions, and it might be difficult to find a suitable local candidate” ,&nbsp, said chief executive officer How Meng Hock.

He claimed that in order to replace him, OMS might need to employ foreigners on S Passes. There is still a cap on the number of S Pass and work permits that a company can hire due to government rules.

OMS has been identifying and nurturing local talent, in part to counteract potential increases in business costs brought on by rising EP salaries.

” We have proactively invested in internship programmes, spanning from university to ITE ( Institute of Technical Education ) and polytechnic students”, said Mr How. &nbsp,

” OMS is fully committed to supporting and putting local talent at the top of our priorities throughout all of our operations.”

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