Malaysian fugitive caught after 20 years on the run

SINGAPORE (Bernama): A 46-year-old Malaysian who was on the run for more than 20 years was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment with effect from the expiry of his existing sentence meted out in 1999, for offences punishable under the Immigration Act and the Penal Code.

Singapore Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) in its website said R. Siva Kumar was arrested with the help of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on March 4, 2020, and brought back to serve his sentence for immigration offences he committed in Singapore in 1999.

The bureau said Siva Kumar was convicted and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane for engaging in a conspiracy to smuggle undocumented migrants from Singapore into Malaysia through the Woodlands Checkpoint on Sept 24, 1999.

The conspiracy involved bribing a Cisco officer (auxiliary police force) to allow buses ferrying the migrants to pass through the checkpoint without immigration clearance, it said.

CPIB said the Cisco officer was convicted on Oct 5, 1999 and sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment and fined S$2, 800 (RM8, 676) for corruption but Siva Kumar absconded from Singapore sometime in 1999 while he was on court bail pending appeal of his conviction and sentence.

On March 9, 2000, a warrant of arrest was issued for Siva Kumar, it said.

CPIB investigations revealed that in October 1999, Siva Kumar departed Singapore for Malaysia in the vehicle of an unknown individual known as "Boy”, who had produced a passport belonging to someone else at Woodlands Checkpoint to mislead the immigration officer into believing Siva Kumar was someone else.

For his actions, Siva Kumar was charged on April 16, 2021, with offences punishable under the Immigration Act and the Penal Code, said the bureau.

On Friday (June 11), CPIB said Siva Kumar pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment with effect from the expiry of his existing sentence meted out in 1999.

"The invaluable assistance and strong support by the MACC have resulted in Siva Kumar’s arrest on March 4, 2020.

"CPIB is grateful for the close collaboration with the MACC on this case to ensure that the offender was brought to justice and there was no escaping the long arm of the law, ” said the bureau.- Bernama