3 Malaysians jailed, caned for robbing money changer
Vekneswaran Sekaran, 31, and Saravanak Kumar Karunanithy, 30 — who were found guilty of armed robbery — were each given a seven-year jail term and 12 strokes of the cane. Their accomplice — 33-year-old Selvam Karupaya — received a jail sentence of five years and nine months, as well as 12 strokes of the cane for abetting the armed robbery. PHOTO: Reuters
SINGAPORE — Three Malaysians, who were part of a gang of nine who robbed a moneychanger at a carpark in Aljunied Crescent in 2014, were sentenced to jail and caning yesterday.
Vekneswaran Sekaran, 31, and Saravanak Kumar Karunanithy, 30 — who were found guilty of armed robbery — were each given a seven-year jail term and 12 strokes of the cane.
For abetting the armed robbery, their accomplice — 33-year-old Selvam Karupaya — received a jail sentence of five years and nine months, as well as 12 strokes of the cane.
With the trio’s sentencing, it means that a total of six men involved in the robbery have been dealt with under the law, while another three are still at large.
The court earlier heard that at 12.50am on Nov 5, 2014, five members of the gang — clad in balaclavas and face masks — ambushed moneychanger Ali Yousouf Saiboo, 35, and robbed him of more than S$624,000 in foreign and Singapore currencies at a car park at Block 110 Aljunied Crescent, moments after he had parked his car.
Mr Saiboo, who was with his then-two-year-old son, was heading for his father-in-law’s house to hand over the money for safekeeping.
Mr Saiboo, the manager of a moneychanging company at The Arcade in Collyer Quay, had earlier collected the currencies from couriers at Changi Airport Terminal 2.
The firm employs couriers to deliver currencies in cash to its customers based in Kuala Lumpur. The couriers will also collect currencies from these customers to be delivered to the firm in Singapore.
As the manager, Mr Saiboo’s practice was to personally get the currencies from the couriers once they arrived in Singapore. He would then either temporarily keep the cash at his flat in Geylang East Central, or at his father-in-law’s residence at Aljunied Crescent, for safekeeping.
During the robbery, the five men, who were in a Proton Wira, deliberately parked their vehicle right in front of Mr Saiboo’s car, to block him from driving away.
As he had locked his car doors, the robbers smashed the windows with a crowbar before dragging him out. Some of them also rained blows on his body. Throughout this entire time, Mr Saiboo’s toddler remained seated in the car’s front passenger seat.
The robbers then took items from the car’s trunk, including two mobile phones, two black luggage bags containing Singapore currency amounting to S$231,082 and American currency amounting to US$210,000 (about S$286,000).
All the suspects fled to Malaysia, except for one who remained in Singapore.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Michelle Lu told the district court yesterday that the robbery reflected the work of an organised crime syndicate. The gang had obtained information on the travel patterns of both Mr Saiboo and the couriers.
Both Vekneswaran and Saravanak, she said, had even practised to how to block the victim’s car to commit the robbery, while Selvam was deployed to keep a lookout at a specific location.
Handing out the sentences, District Judge Lim Keng Yeow noted that the case was more than a typical robbery incident, one which involved “meticulous” planning.
