Woman fined for letting man into her home during circuit breaker for massage and masturbation

SINGAPORE: A woman was fined S$7,000 on Wednesday (Jun 3) for letting a man into her condominium unit during the "circuit breaker" period for massage and masturbation services.

Allowing people who are not from your household into your home during the circuit breaker is an offence under the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act.

China national Cheng Fengzhao, 38, pleaded guilty to one charge of allowing the 51-year-old man, who was not from her household, to enter her home. A second charge of letting him in on an earlier occasion on Apr 19 was taken into consideration.

The court heard that Cheng is a work permit holder who came to Singapore to work as a waitress. However, she has never reported to work as a waitress. Instead, she paid a monthly fee to unknown individuals to help advertise her sex services on different websites.

Every 10 days, she paid an unknown man rental of S$100 per day to use the condo unit. 

At about 3pm on May 5, police officers raided the condo at Jalan Kemaman for vice-related offences. The police saw the 51-year-old man, who was not identified in court documents, walking into the condo and entering Cheng's unit.

About 50 minutes later, the man left the unit and the police identified themselves.

They searched the unit and found a second sex worker in the unit waiting for another customer. The police let this second man in.

Investigations revealed that Cheng had arranged with the 51-year-old man, a regular customer of hers, to visit her on May 5 at 3pm.

This was for her to provide massage and masturbation services for a fee of S$100. She did this despite knowing that she was not allowed to let other people enter her home during the circuit breaker period except in limited circumstances.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Lee Ti-Ting asked for a fine of at least S$7,000, noting that she must have been in close proximity with the customer and flouted the law for commercial gain.

She said there was premeditation, as Cheng had made arrangements with the customer before the day itself.

Cheng, who was unrepresented, told the court through a Mandarin interpreter that she knows she has done wrong in flouting Singapore's laws.

"I do not have any qualification to earn a living," she said. "I'm sorry that I have committed an offence in Singapore."

The judge asked why she did not work as a waitress as originally planned, and she said: "When I came here, I discovered there was no such job available."

However, the prosecutor said Cheng had admitted to not turning up for work from day one.

"During this period, there were many other people, Singaporeans and non-Singaporeans, holding different kinds of jobs, who were also under the same laws," she said.

Cheng could have been jailed for up to six months, fined up to S$10,000, or both for breaking a COVID-19 regulation.

CNA has contacted the Attorney-General's Chambers on whether any action will be taken against the 51-year-old man.

READ: Woman charged with allowing customer into salon for massage and masturbation during circuit breaker period

Cheng is the second woman to be charged for such an offence. In April, a woman was charged with letting a man into her beauty salon for massage and masturbation services.

Jin Yin, 55, was set to plead guilty but had her plea rejected as she could not stop crying. She will return to court at a later date.

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