Extortion suspected in Germanâs disappearance
Two foreigners questioned, refuse to give statements
CHON BURI: Police suspect extortion was the motive in the disappearance of a wealthy German businessman in Pattaya last week.
They have identified a woman believed to have pointed him out to his abductors, and the recipient of money paid by the missing property broker, 62-year-old Hans Peter Ralter Mack, Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn, deputy police chief, said on Monday.
He said police would find Mr Mack, whether he was alive or dead.
Investigators were compiling their case to apply for court warrants and he expected an arrest in the near future.
“The case concerns assets. The offender seemed to know that Mr Mack had assets. Detectives must find out if he knew Mr Mack personally,” the deputy national police chief said.
Police would also look into the business activities of other people in the case, he said.
The missing man’s silver Mercedes-Benz E350 coupe was found by police on Sunday morning in the CC Condominium parking lot on Khao Noi road in tambon Nong Prue.
Pol Gen Surachate confirmed reports that a chemical cleanser had been used inside the vehicle in an attempt to destroy evidence.
Two foreigners were called in for questioning at Nong Prue police station in Bang Lamung district on Sunday night in connection with the case. Their names and nationality were not disclosed. They were accompanied by their lawyers.
Pol Col Tawee Kudthalaeng, Nong Prue police chief, said the two declined to give statements, saying their lawyers would represent them in any legal proceedings.
A woman suspected of involvement in Mr Mack’s disappearance was earlier called in for questioning. She also declined to cooperate, saying her lawyer would act on her behalf.
Later on Sunday night, Pol Maj Gen Theerachai Chamnanmor, chief investigator of Provincial Police Region 2, led immigration and tourist police, with a court warrant, to search house 21/302 in Chok Chai Garden 2 housing estate at Moo 10 in tambon Nong Prue. The house belonged to one of the suspects. Police did not find anything suspicious in the house.
Sources said investigators had detected suspicious financial transactions totalling about 2 million baht which might be linked to the man’s disappearance.
Mr Mack, 62, has not been seen since July 4. His Thai wife, Piriya Boonmark, said he left their Swiss Paradise housing estate home in Pattaya in his Mercedes Benz to meet a foreign property broker he had recently met.
The family filed a missing person complaint with police on July 5 and later offered a reward of 3 million baht for information on Mr Mack’s whereabouts, and 100,000 baht on his car.
Hans Peter Mack, the missing 62-year-old German businessman. (Photo: Chaiyot Pupattanapong)
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Two dead after tour bus from Singapore collides with car along Malaysia expressway
SEREMBAN: Two people were killed following an accident involving a tourist bus and a car on the North-South Expressway in Malaysia during the early hours of Monday (Jul 10).
Rescue authorities identified the fatalities as the bus driver and an Indonesian woman who was a passenger. Five others were seriously injured.
Nilai district deputy police chief Mat Ghani Lateh said that the bus had been ferrying 19 passengers.
Fourteen of them were foreign nationals – four Indonesians, three Singaporeans, two Canadians, three from the Philippines and one each from China and Spain.
Preliminary investigations found that the bus, owned by La Holidays Travel & Tours, was travelling from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur before rescue authorities were alerted to the incident at about 5am.
“The bus is suspected of hitting a bridge pillar on the right side of the expressway, before swerving to the left and hitting a Proton Wira car, which was in the left lane, and crashed into the left shoulder of the road,” he said.
Katong Shopping Centre relaunches for en bloc sale, price stays at S$638 million
SINGAPORE: Katong Shopping Centre has made another attempt at collective sale, at an indicative price of S$638 million (US$473 million), said real estate firm Edmund Tie in a news release on Monday (Jul 10).
The freehold property in District 15 is located on a corner land plot of 86,924 sq ft, facing both Mountbatten Road and Haig Road.
It was previously put up for collective sale in April for the same price. At the time, Edmund Tie said that was the third en bloc attempt by Katong Shopping Centre.
On the previous two occasions in 2016 and 2017 – both handled by Cushman & Wakefield – the reserve price was set at S$630 million.
The development currently comprises a seven-storey podium block and a five-storey annex block, accommodating a total of 425 strata shop and office units as well as a privately held carpark. The total gross floor area of the development is approximately 280,000 sq ft, reflecting a gross plot ratio of 3.223.
Under Master Plan 2019, Katong Shopping Centre is zoned for commercial and residential use at a gross plot ratio 3.0. The site can be redeveloped into a landmark integrated development at its existing plot ratio of 3.223, with the option of converting the residential component into serviced apartments, subject to authorities’ approval.
The indicative price of S$638 million works out to S$2,277 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr) based on its existing gross floor area.
Edmund Tie’s head of investment advisory Swee Shou Fern said: “Katong Shopping Centre offers investors a rarely available sizeable site with the coveted freehold tenure for a mixed-use development; what’s more in the popular and well-established East Coast vicinity.
Based on an average unit size of 100 sq m (or approximately 1,076 sq ft), the new development can accommodate about 156 residential apartments, she said. The retail component can feature up to approximately 112,000 sq ft in gross floor area.
Visitors to Kampong Glam can expect more cultural activities, improved accessibility over the next five years
The upcoming developments are part of the blueprint by the Kampong Gelam Alliance, a group of residents, cultural institutions and businesses in the area.
The plan follows a two-month public consultation on the future of the precinct and was done in consultation with the URA.
Kampong Glam was famous for its textiles in the seventies. Today, it is still home to businesses selling fabrics and traditional patterns. It is also known for selling products used for religious activities like non-alcoholic perfumes. Locals and tourists also visit to get a taste of traditional food.
ENSURING BUSINESSES REMAIN VIABLE
The shops in the precinct today are a mix of three-generation businesses and start-ups and pop-ups which offer services, food and drinks and shopping, said Mr Zaki Ma’arof, a member of the alliance.
Among the plans to keep the businesses viable is an apprenticeship scheme, where younger entrepreneurs will be paired with veteran businesses to learn traditional trades that include textiles, handmade perfumes and Persian crafts.
The initiative to refresh Kampong Glam’s offerings while keeping it anchored in its roots was welcomed by businesses in the area.
“I would like to see more batik shops, I would like to see more Kebaya shops, I want to see more Kurung shops or more food and beverage in restaurants, the local food, local delights,” said Ms Ratianah, owner of a kebaya shop in her name.
Visitors to Kampong Gelam can expect more cultural activities, improved accessibility over the next five years
The upcoming developments are part of the blueprint by the Kampong Gelam Alliance, a group of residents, cultural institutions and businesses in the area.
The plan follows a two-month public consultation on the future of the precinct and was done in consultation with the URA.
Kampong Gelam was famous for its textiles in the seventies. Today, it is still home to businesses selling fabrics and traditional patterns. It is also known for selling products used for religious activities like non-alcoholic perfumes. Locals and tourists also visit to get a taste of traditional food.
ENSURING BUSINESSES REMAIN VIABLE
The shops in the precinct today are a mix of three-generation businesses and start-ups and pop-ups which offer services, food and drinks and shopping, said Mr Zaki Ma’arof, a member of the alliance.
Among the plans to keep the businesses viable is an apprenticeship scheme, where younger entrepreneurs will be paired with veteran businesses to learn traditional trades that include textiles, handmade perfumes and Persian crafts.
The initiative to refresh Kampong Gelam’s offerings while keeping it anchored in its roots was welcomed by businesses in the area.
“I would like to see more batik shops, I would like to see more Kebaya shops, I want to see more Kurung shops or more food and beverage in restaurants, the local food, local delights,” said Ms Ratianah, owner of a kebaya shop in her name.
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Protest site ready ahead of ‘problematic’ vote for PM
An area near the parliament has been prepared for demonstrators when the House and Senate meet on Thursday to vote on who should be the new prime minister, a vote some senators warn could be problematic.
House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha said on Monday that vacant land owned by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration opposite Thahan Road would be available for demonstrators when the parliament convenes in joint sitting at 9.30am on Thursday.
Demonstrators should not gather in front of the parliament itself because there was construction work going on which could pose a danger to them, Mr Wan said.
He had coordinated with City Hall in arranging the nearby area be available. It had a clear view of the parliament and there would be tents and toilets available for people there.
Mr Wan asked that demonstrators help maintain order. Thursday’s meeting was a significant event and the parliament an important place.
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said on Monday the 5-rai area was in the grounds of a City Hall complex and could accommodate about 600 people.
Eight coalition allies plan to nominate Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of the election-winning Move Forward Party, as the next prime minister at Thursday’s meeting. However, Mr Pita is facing complaints about his eligibility for political office over an inherited shareholding in iTV Plc that he managed as executor of his father’s estate.
The constitution prohibits a shareholder of a media organization from running in a general election. Anyone who does so knowing they were not qualified is liable to penalities including imprisonment, fines and suspension of electoral rights.
Senator Direkrit Jenkhrongtham said that unless there is a clear ruling on Mr Pita’s eligibility ahead of the meeting, there would be a big debate.
He warned parliamentarians they could be held in violation of the constitution if they vote for Mr Pita while being aware his eligibility was in question.
Mr Direkrit said unless the prime ministerial vote was postponed, many senators may abstain.
Senator Seree Suwannapanon said MPs of the eight coalition allies could be seen as violating the constitution if they vote for Mr Pita, and their parties may risk legal penalties including disbandment.
However, Senator Ampol Chinawatana said he would vote for a prime ministerial candidate from the political parties that had a majority in the House, so that the new government would also have majority support.
Appearing to support Mr Pita, Senator Ampol said the people’s choice must be respected, otherwise there was no point in having a general election.
The constitution requires the new prime minister be supported by a majority of the combined vote of the 500 members of the House of Representatives and the 250 senators – a minimum 376 votes.
IT vendor appeals against US$6.5 million in damages awarded to gaming firm Razer over data leak
THE APPEAL
Lead counsel for Capgemini, Mr Andy Leck from Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow, put forth three grounds of appeal during the three-hour hearing.
He argued that High Court judge Lee Seiu Kin was wrong in finding that Razer discharged its burden of proving damages for loss of profit; that Razer did not fail to mitigate its losses by its delay in responding to Mr Diachenko’s repeated warnings; and that Razer was not contributorily negligent for said delay.
The issue began in June 2020 when a Capgemini employee was tasked with helping Razer with a login problem on an internal IT system.
Mr Argel Cabalag had added a “#” command to a configuration file that controlled security and access to an application. The misconfiguration then disabled the security settings of the application, eventually leading to the data breach.
Mr Diachenko first contacted Razer’s support team on Aug 19, 2020, saying he had come across an unprotected, publicly available database that appeared to contain the personal data of Razer’s customers.
When Razer did not respond, Mr Diachenko reached out another four times on Aug 20, Aug 22, Aug 27 and Sep 9.
Razer’s management team found out about the breach on Sep 9. Mr Cabalag resolved the issue within a day.
Among his arguments in court, Mr Leck noted Razer’s own evidence – that it would have provided an “orderly resolution” if its cyber security and compliance process architect at the time, Ms Tiong Lee Lan, took reasonable steps to ensure the data leak was brought to her attention.
Razer also admitted that Ms Tiong had failed to respond to Mr Diachenko immediately and escalate his warnings in accordance with protocol, added Mr Leck.
Razer had given evidence that Mr Diachenko would have released information on the data leak regardless of what Razer had done in response to his warnings, while Capgemini did not provide any evidence to suggest that the reverse was true.
WARNING LETTER ISSUED
Razer had also issued a warning letter to Ms Tiong – a point that Mr Leck said was “very important” to their case.
The letter stated that “the extent of the issue would have been significantly mitigated” if Ms Tiong had carried out the appropriate incident response or evaluated the veracity of Mr Diachenko’s initial email.
In finding that Razer was not contributorily negligent for the data breach, Justice Lee wrote in his judgment he did not think the “wording of an internal company reprimand” would “shed any light on whether Razer caused the damage or would have suffered less damages if it acted promptly”.
Mr Leck argued that Justice Lee had failed to put adequate weight on the warning letter.
In response, Razer’s lead counsel, Mr Wendell Wong from Drew & Napier, asked what extent of reaction time could be deemed a breach. He also questioned how much Capgemini wanted to reduce the damages.
Judge of the Appellate Division Woo Bih Li told him: “Speaking for myself, your opponent may have a point. If you all had gotten back to Mr Diachenko promptly and assured him things would be done, maybe (the news articles reporting on the data leak) would have been done differently.
“But you didn’t and frankly speaking, that’s my concern. Why should it be zero when it comes to contributory negligence?” Justice Woo asked.
When Mr Wong said they agreed there had been a delay on Razer’s part, the judge challenged him on whether he accepted Razer was contributorily negligent.
Mr Wong responded: “I can only say this. In terms of evidence led, I understand about the internal letter and we were late in responding to Diachenko.
“But our humble submission is that when you look at overall schematics, they were not negligent in failing to respond within the three weeks we talked about.”
Mr Wong also said that Capgemini did not provide evidence on how Mr Diachenko would have reacted if Razer promptly responded to him.
In response, Justice Woo noted that ironically, one could argue that Razer was more negligent because Capgemini’s error “seemed inadvertent”.
“(Razer was) told about (the data breach) a few times over a few weeks. It was not that Ms Tiong forgot to respond to it,” the judge added.
“She was told about it a few times and then various other people in Razer’s team were also informed. This went back and forth for three weeks. Then Razer said, ‘I will sue you for negligence and we say we’re not negligent.’
“I find that very hard to accept.”
Justice Woo and the other two judges hearing the appeal – Justices Kannan Ramesh and Andre Maniam – eventually directed both parties to discuss whether they can agree on how much the awarded damages should be reduced. This is if the court finds contributory negligence or a failure to mitigate on Razer’s end, or a similar type of defence.
The court asked the lawyers to revert by Jul 17, and reserved its decision in the meantime.
Horse seen galloping on BKE ‘safely returned to stable’
SINGAPORE: A brown horse seen galloping along the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE) in videos circulating online over the weekend “has since been safely returned to its stable”, said a Singapore Turf Club spokesperson on Monday (Jul 10).
The spokesperson added the horse belonged to the Bukit Timah Saddle Club, and the Turf Club was aware that the horse had found its way outside of its stable and “onto the roads briefly”.
“We thank everyone for their care and concern, especially motorists for their patience.”
Bukit Timah Saddle Club acknowledged the incident but declined to comment when contacted by CNA.
In a video that was posted on the Singapore Incidents Facebook group, the horse was seen galloping on the expressway, while weaving through traffic. The horse then turned around before walking past a car.
In another video, the horse was escorted away from traffic near the Turf Club Avenue exit on the BKE by a Land Transport Authority (LTA) official.
When contacted by CNA, LTA declined to comment on the incident.
CNA has also contacted the National Parks Board (NParks) for comment.
This is not the first time a horse has been spotted on Singapore’s roads. In March last year, a black horse was filmed trotting along Turf Club Road in Bukit Timah. It was captured “just minutes” after it escaped, according to riding school Gallop Stable.
TODAY also reported that in August 2021, a grey-white horse was spotted along Vanda Link near Turf Club Road, though it was unclear where it was housed.
A similar incident also took place in 2020, when a white horse was spotted galloping at a traffic junction along Eng Neo Avenue, also in the same area as Turf Club Road.
Horse racing in Singapore will come to an end in October 2024, with the Singapore Turf Club site in Kranji to be handed back to the government in 2027 for redevelopment.
Around 700 horses will be exported and the last race will be held on Oct 5, 2024.
Bukit Timah Saddle Club recently moved from its historic grounds at Bukit Timah to its new home at the Singapore Turf Club, just three months ago at the end of February.
The riding school has 80 horses, while more than 30 others are privately owned in its liveries.
It is also planning to take in five former racing horses from the Turf Club, which will export its 700 horses to countries such as Malaysia before it shuts.