SINGAPORE: In a bid to obtain help for his previous convictions, a man posed as a prison officer to e-mail President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and the Secretariat of the Singapore Parliament.
Prakash Paramasivam had felt that he was wrongly convicted of his earlier crimes, the prosecution said.
Without revealing details, the prosecutor added that between 2018 and 2023, Prakash had been in and out of jail for offences including criminal intimidation by anonymous communication.
Separately, Prakash pretended to be the prison officer to e-mail Desmond Lee, then the National Development Minister and current Education Minister, for help in some family matters.
According to court documents, the offender had used his mother’s mobile phone to send the e-mails.
On Monday (Feb 16), the 25-year-old was sentenced to nine months’ jail after he pleaded guilty to three counts of pretending to be a public servant.
He also admitted to an unrelated charge of using a forged medical certificate (MC) as a genuine copy.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ernest Chua said that Prakash sent an e-mail to the Secretariat of the Singapore Parliament on Feb 16, 2024, stating that the police had “falsely charged” him over his earlier offences.
Posing as the prison officer, Prakash wrote: “Those offences were done by his ex-(schoolmates), teachers from Metta School located (in Simei)... My ex-inmate has... evidence... that he’s innocent.”
The DPP said Prakash intentionally misrepresented himself as a staff member of the Singapore Prison Service to increase his chances of obtaining assistance.
Two days later, Prakash again pretended to be the prison officer when he “attempted to obtain assistance from the Ministry of Social and Family Development”, the DPP said, and wrote an e-mail to Lee, then the National Development Minister.
This time, Prakash stated that his mother was a victim of domestic abuse and needed help.
Prakash pretended to be the prison officer for the third time and sent an e-mail to Mr Tharman on Feb 24, 2024, stating: “My ex-inmate (had) been charged falsely by the police and the State Court... (The) judge... sentenced wrongfully without notice and unfair of his defence.”
He was arrested four days later.
After being released on bail on Feb 29, 2024, he reoffended in 2025.
On July 2 that year, he saw a doctor at a clinic and obtained an MC, which stated that he was unfit for duties for two days.
However, the certificate was “not valid for absence from court attendance”.
Later that day, Prakash edited the document so that it stated that he was “unfit to attend court”.
His mother later submitted the forged MC to a district court.
His offence came to light when police contacted the doctor, who said he had not issued the MC.
Prakash was arrested on July 8, 2025, and has been in remand since.
Calling for strong deterrence, DPP Chua urged the court on Feb 16 to sentence him to between seven and nine months in jail: “The accused has... shown himself to be a serial and habitual offender with a marked proclivity towards sending false messages to third parties.” - The Straits Times/ANN
