South-East Asia (Page 1,342)

SINGAPORE: After meeting a woman on Facebook who claimed to be a South Korean based overseas, a man began “dating” her and later allowed her to use his bank account for various transactions.

When the police told him his “girlfriend” was a scammer who was cheating others of their money, he initially complied with their instructions and accepted their warning, but later resumed talking to his girlfriend.

He even offered her his mother’s bank account for use, as he knew the police were monitoring his.

Chan Wing Onn, 54, was sentenced to 16 weeks’ jail on Wednesday (Mar 6).

The Singaporean pleaded guilty to one count of acquiring criminal proceeds from another person, with another three charges taken into consideration.

The court heard that Chan got to know a person on Facebook who called herself Soo Kim in 2021.

Soo Kim claimed that she was South Korean and working overseas. 

She began a romantic relationship with Chan, although the pair never met in real life.

Chan would use Facebook, WhatsApp and a Hangout application to communicate with Soo Kim.

In April and May 2022, Chan acquired a total of S$24,700 (US$18,410) that was sent to his bank accounts in multiple transactions.

He would transfer these sums to Soo Kim, or another contact that he believed was her father. He would do so by buying cryptocurrency or Apple iTunes cards, keeping S$400 for himself as commission.

POLICE WARN CHAN

In June 2022, the police investigated these transactions and warned Chan against helping Soo Kim receive and transfer money, because she was a scammer.

Chan acknowledged this. He was served a 24-month conditional warning in July 2022 and warned that he may be prosecuted for his conduct and any fresh offences.

Chan complied with various instructions and deleted his Facebook, Twitter, Tinder and Instagram applications, agreeing not to use them for two years.

He reported and blocked Soo Kim and the contact he believed was her father on WhatsApp and Telegram.

He also agreed to maintain only one bank account for the two-year period and not to let anyone else use it.

However, between July and August 2022, Chan reached out to Soo Kim again and resumed communicating with her.

Around August that year, Soo Kim told him that she had gotten into a car accident and needed money to pay her medical bills and government taxes.

She told Chan that she would be borrowing S$20,000 from a person called Nicholas Choo and needed a Singapore bank account to receive the money.

Chan offered Soo Kim the use of his mother’s bank account, which he had access to. He did not offer his own as he knew the police were monitoring his bank account.

Chan warned Soo Kim not to misuse his mother’s bank account as he did not want to get into “any further trouble”.

The scam victim, Mr Nicholas Choo, transferred a total of S$20,000 to Chan’s mother’s account in three transactions.

Chan then told Soo Kim to stop sending him money. However, he complied when she asked him to buy iTunes cards for her using the acquired sum.

He withdrew S$3,000 and bought iTunes cards for Soo Kim, sending her the details.

Mr Choo lodged a police report on Aug 13, 2022, saying he had transferred S$20,000 to a bank account at the request of someone he later suspected was a scammer.

The police froze Chan’s mother’s bank account and recovered the remaining S$17,000.

The prosecution sought four to five months’ jail for Chan, saying money laundering was a serious offence that helps international criminals obtain their ill-gotten gains.

Chan’s actions allowed a total of S$48,090 to be laundered and continued to offend despite being given a warning.

Chan was unrepresented. He had nothing to say in mitigation, initially submitting a pile of papers making general legal arguments, before saying he wanted to lodge an appeal.

He eventually rescinded his claims and was told to think about what he wanted to do with regard to an appeal after being sentenced.

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SINGAPORE: To supplement centre-based infant care, the government will trial a childminding service for kids aged between two months and 18 months.

The three-year pilot will accommodate 500 children in the first year and increase to 700 subsequently, said the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF).

Childminders, or nannies, were common in Singapore in the 1970s and 1980s, said Minister of State Sun Xueling in parliament on Wednesday (Mar 6) while detailing the ministry’s spending plans for the year.

“They are less common today as parents may be unsure of where to look for trusted childminders or they may find childminding relatively more expensive as compared to other caregiving options, such as infant care centres,” she added. 

The new childminding service is expected to cost about S$700 (US$520) a month, similar to what a median-income family pays for infant care at an anchor operator, MSF said.

Full-day infant care fees at these centres are capped at S$1,235 for Singaporeans, but working mothers can apply for subsidies of at least S$600 a month.

Parents who choose private childminding services – typically by home-based nannies – pay anywhere from S$1,200 to S$2,800 a month, according to MSF. Unlike infant care centres, the prices of such services are not regulated by the government.

Under the pilot, the Child Development Account (CDA) can be used to pay for the childminding service, said Ms Sun. 

EACH CHILDMINDER TO CARE FOR UP TO THREE INFANTS 

The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) will appoint operators, which will in turn engage childminders. Each childminder can care for up to three infants at any one time in their own homes or at community centres or community clubs.

These community spaces will be in areas of high infant care demand for parents’ convenience, said Ms Sun. 

Operators must adhere to service requirements to ensure the infants are safe, said MSF in a press release. 

“For example, operators must put in place guidelines for child-safe practices, disclose childminders’ profile to parents and ensure that their childminders are trained to care for infants.”

The government will conduct background checks on operators and childminders. ECDA and the operators will also develop industry standards together.

Childminding offers “a different value proposition” compared with centre-based infant care, which caters to many children, said MSF. 

“Parents can then have greater flexibility to choose what best meets their caregiving needs and preferences,” said Ms Sun in parliament. 

Parents who prefer a more structured setting during working hours may opt for infant care centres, while those who prefer more flexible hours or more individualised care in a home setting can opt for childminders, she added. 

Infant care centres have fixed operating hours and usually cannot accommodate infants who are ill. 

MSF intends to grow the sector so that more parents can tap on childminding as an affordable, safe and reliable option, it said.

“In establishing baseline service standards and requirements under the pilot, we are mindful that this should not inadvertently curtail the range of services that the sector provides, and lead to fewer parents being able to tap on childminding services,” the ministry said. 

There are currently no formal regulations for childminding or babysitting services.

MSF will continue to engage parents, childminders and childminding operators and announce more details in the second half of 2024, Ms Sun said. 

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SINGAPORE: Two men were charged on Wednesday (Mar 6) over helping three people illegally enter a Taylor Swift concert at the Singapore Sports Hub.

Yang Chenguang, a 29-year-old Chinese national, allegedly talked to a security officer as a distraction while his compatriot Li Xiao Wei, 45, held onto a turnstile so three people could enter the concert venue.

The three people who allegedly cheated the event organiser by entering the concert were named in charge sheets as Shangguan Linmo, Hu Zhijin and Yang Junhao.

Yang Chenguang and Li are each accused of abetting the three concertgoers in their cheating of the event organiser Kallang Alive Sport Management at about 6pm on Mar 4, 2024.

This was Swift’s third day of her Eras Tour in Singapore.

The men were ordered to be remanded for investigations and will return to court next week.

The duo are the first to be charged after the police received a report on Mar 4 that several people had entered the concert premises without authorisation.

Preliminary investigations showed that three men allegedly helped four people without legitimate concert tickets enter the venue.

The third man has yet to be charged, and two men and two women aged between 21 and 25 are being investigated for criminal trespass.

If convicted of cheating, an offender can be jailed for up to three years, fined, or both.

For criminal trespass, an offender can be jailed for up to three months, fined up to S$1,500, or both.

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A person demanded that his wife and another man leave at a traffic intersection after witnessing his family in a car with another person.

When they objected, he climbed onto the cap and struck the car before entering his truck and ramming it from behind.

The affair caused his family to injure both her neck and spine.

Norfarhan Mohamad Dahlan, a 42-year-old Singaporean, was given an eight-week jail term on Wednesday ( Mar 6 ).

A second demand of a reckless act that endangered people’s safety was brought up alongside his plea of guilty to one count of unlawful intimidation.

The prosecutor was informed that Norfarhan’s family was going through divorce proceedings at the time.

In February 2023, he had even assaulted her, and she had a quick order against him.

The girl boarded a light Suzuki car with her then-husband at the Sengkang home on April 7 of last year.

She and her companion planned to travel together to the Singapore Expo while renting the car.

As he suspected he was having an affair with his wife, Norfarhan saw the other person leave and opted to pursue in his truck.

Near the intersection of Yio Chu Kang Road and Sengkang West Road, Norfarhan’s woman and her companion stopped at a crimson light.

Norfarhan departed to fight the couple after setting up his vehicle behind the Suzuki.

He yelled at them and asked them to leave, but they refused, frightened of their own protection.

Norfarhan regularly hit the Suzuki’s hat, demanding the set to fly and the guy to a fight.

When the Suzuki’s lights turned crimson, Norfarhan returned to his truck and drove it into it.

The Suzuki sprang forth. &nbsp,

Norfarhan’s family requested assistance from the police.

Norfarhan was upset that the couple remained in the Suzuki, though. He demanded that they catch by removing a hammer from his truck.

He threatened his wife with the hammer, saying,” You leave, you will die for certain.”

Additionally, he threatened to break the car’s panels.

A police officer who was n’t on duty drove by and approached Norfarhan. When the officer requested it, Norfarhan set down the hammer, and various police officers quickly showed up.

Another involved bystanders had also complained to the authorities.

Norfarhan’s family experienced restricted range of motion, pain and stiffness in her throat, and tenderness over her spine.

The underside of the Suzuki also suffered as a result of the event.

Norfarhan was sentenced to eight to ten months in prison, according to deputy public prosecutor Louis Ngia, who argued that his danger was” critical and obvious.”

Norfarhan has previously been found guilty, including a transportation offense for operating a vehicle without a valid license.

He had recently been released from a drug rehab facility after using meth and was under a drug control get at the time of the offences.

Norfarhan was informed by the judge that this was not his initial court sentence.

” I do desire you may try to control your thoughts a little better and do not use violence to solve your problems, you understand”? he said.

Norfarhan reaffirmed.

He could have been jailed for up to two years, fined, or both for engaging in criminal harassment.

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