SINGAPORE: Over a period of about three years, a Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) captain cheated 16 victims of more than S$143,000 after incurring significant credit card debt from patronising Thai clubs and KTVs.
Many of Benjamin Song Yong Pang’s victims were his subordinates, who were told that he would use their money for “investments” or to pay his mother’s medical bills.
But Song, who was also a deputy cluster commander at Supply Base North, used the funds to pay his debts and settle his expenses.
He also openly vaped in his office at Nee Soon Camp in Transit Road near Sembawang Road, and repeatedly committed vaping-related offences there.
On June 23, the 38-year-old, who has made full restitution to his victims and is no longer an SAF captain, pleaded guilty to five counts of cheating involving five people and nearly $87,000 in total.
He also admitted to four vape-related charges, including being in possession of vaping devices.
Multiple other charges, including those involving the remaining amount linked to his cheating offences, will be considered during his sentencing.
His mitigation and sentencing will take place in July.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Daniel Foo told the court that of the five victims, two were full-time national servicemen who reported directly to Song.
The other three – a first sergeant, a third warrant officer and a captain – were regulars.
Court documents did not disclose details on the remaining 11 victims.
The DPP said that between 2011 and 2018, Song incurred an undisclosed amount of debt from patronising Thai clubs and KTVs.
Although he stopped going to such places around 2019 or 2020, he continued to be in debt in the years that followed.
Over 39 occasions between May 23, 2021 and March 5, 2024, he duped the five victims into handing nearly $87,000 to him.
He had cheated each person of between $10,000 and $27,050.
Court documents stated that he cheated the female third warrant officer of the largest amount.
Song duped her over 13 occasions between May 23 and Sept 30, 2021 after claiming that he would help her invest.
He also used a similar ruse to cheat most of his other victims, the court heard.
On June 23, the DPP urged the count to sentence him to up to a year and 11 months’ jail.
“A stiff sentence is necessary to send a signal that...abuses of authority within the armed forces will be met with disapprobation,” he said.
In unrelated cases, the court heard that between 2020 and 2023, Song possessed and distributed vaping-related items while he was a captain at Nee Soon Camp.
According to court documents, he had enlisted three subordinates – Private/Lance Corporal Kris Leow Zheng Yang, Third Warrant Officer Jenny Koh, and Staff Sergeant Russell Wong Wei Yao – to procure and pass prohibited items to him.
Health Sciences Authority (HSA) prosecutor Donn Praabu Dennis said: “In one instance, (Leow) admitted he assisted the accused because the accused was his superior officer, and he was afraid to say no.
“The accused also introduced (Koh) to vaping, gifted her a vaporiser device, and subsequently distributed pods to her.”
Song started vaping in or around late 2021 or 2022, and openly did so in his office within the camp’s premises, normalising the habit among his subordinates.
Among other things, he was in the camp between 2022 and 2023 when he possessed 10 boxes of three pods each, and 15 disposable vaporisers costing $13 each, over six occasions.
Court documents stated that on the first two occasions, Koh helped him buy 10 boxes of three pods each at an unknown price.
She later helped him purchase 15 disposable vaporisers at $13 each, the court heard.
He paid her for these items, which she passed to him in the camp, said the HSA prosecutor.
Koh did not make any profit from such transactions.
The HSA prosecutor also said that in early 2022, Song was in the camp when he distributed nine pods to her.
According to court documents, he also committed other vaping-related offences involving Leow and Wong.
The HSA prosecutor said: “The accused leveraged his position as a superior officer to involve his colleagues and subordinates in ordering vaporisers and pods on his behalf, with some transactions occurring through consolidated orders to avoid delivery fees rather than for profit-making purposes.”
Court documents did not disclose how Song’s offences came to light, but he was arrested in April 2024. - The Straits Times/ANN
