Cheong Wee Kiat, 27, pleaded guilty to one charge under the Computer Misuse Act and one count of criminal intimidation on Jan 13. - ST/ANN
SINGAPORE: A man forced his friend to drink urine as punishment because he thought the friend had pocketed money from a bank account which had been given to someone else to control and whose funds were subsequently frozen.
Cheong Wee Kiat, 27, pleaded guilty to one charge under the Computer Misuse Act and one count of criminal intimidation on Jan 13.
He was sentenced to four months and eight weeks’ jail.
His offence under the Computer Misuse Act is related to his role in getting the friend, identified in court documents as A1, to open a bank account for another person to use.
In March 2022, A1 told Cheong he wanted to earn extra cash.
Cheong knew that another friend of his, Tan, was offering cash in return for the use of bank accounts.
He then introduced A1 to Tan, who also told Cheong that he could earn a commission if A1’s bank account could be used for a long period of time.
After A1 opened a corporate bank account with OCBC, he gave Tan the internet banking credentials and the ATM card for the account.
“The accused was aware that A1 would be relinquishing a bank account to Tan and had introduced A1 to Tan for this purpose,” Deputy Public Prosecutor Nicole Tay told the court.
A1 soon began receiving bank statements, which A1’s father saw detailed significant sums of money being transferred into the account.
The father confronted A1 about the matter, and A1 eventually closed the account.
On April 16, 2022, A1 lodged a police report saying that he had opened the OCBC bank account and relinquished it.
The bank account, which contained more than $25,000, was frozen.
Investigations revealed that more than S$147,000 (US$114,060) had been received and transferred out of the OCBC bank account. The funds were not traced to any police reports.
Cheong and A1 did not receive any monetary benefit.
Afraid that he would be asked to make repayments for the frozen funds, A1 cut off contact with Tan and Cheong.
Tan and Cheong were unaware that the account had been frozen or that A1 had made a police report. They believed that A1 had closed the bank account and pocketed the money for himself.
On Sept 12, 2022, Tan and Cheong, along with four others, confronted A1 about the money at the void deck of the flat where A1 lived.
A1 insisted that he did not pocket the money, but later agreed to work to pay off the money.
During the confrontation, Cheong punched A1 in the face, giving him a cut on his right eyebrow.
The next day, the group decided to punish A1 by forcing him to drink their urine from a bottle.
Not wanting to fight them, A1 drank three-quarters of the 1.5-litre bottle. The rest of the urine was poured over his head.
Tan used his phone to take pictures and recorded a video of the incident, which was later deleted.
Cheong took A1’s NRIC, PAssion card and OCBC ATM card as collateral for the money owed before they parted ways.
A1 made a police report about the incident on Sept 14, 2022. Cheong was arrested on the same day.
DPP Nicole Tay sought a jail sentence of four months and eight weeks for Cheong, noting that handing over bank accounts is a serious offence, given that scams have become a major and fast-growing concern.
Addressing the criminal intimidation charge, DPP Tay said Cheong’s actions were a real and significant threat of injury to A1’s person.
She described the act of making A1 drink urine and pouring it over his head as “unnatural and deeply humiliating”.
In mitigation, Cheong said he was remorseful about his actions. He asked for his sentence to be deferred so he could settle his personal affairs.
He will begin serving his sentence on Feb 27. - The Straits Times/ANN
