32 months’ jail for second man in car rental scam
SINGAPORE — A 40-year-old man was yesterday sentenced to 32 months’ jail for his role in a conspiracy to cheat car rental businesses in Singapore by selling the rented cars in Malaysia.
Koh Choon Siong was found guilty of two proceeded charges involving separate cars, with another two charges taken into consideration. His accomplice, Lai Kah Goon, 50, is serving a jail term of 32 months after being sentenced last month.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Charis Low told the court that Koh and Lai were part of a syndicate, and that the cheating was “premeditated and organised”.
On two occasions in December 2004, Koh gave Lai S$10,000 to rent two cars from two separate car rental companies for a two-day period.
After renting the cars, Lai passed the vehicles to Koh, who drove them to Malaysia and handed them over to Steven Koh Chin Guan, Alvin Ng and other conspirators. Ng and Steven Koh, who is Koh Choon Siong’s uncle, then allegedly sold the vehicles to unknown buyers. Both cars were valued at S$205,250 in total.
A day after committing the offences, Lai absconded to Malaysia and, subsequently, to China. He was later jailed for six years in China over drug trafficking charges. After serving his sentence, he was repatriated to Singapore in May 2010, when investigations for the cheating offences resumed. It was then that Koh was identified as an accomplice.
In mitigation, Koh’s lawyer Wee Pan Lee said his client made no financial gain from the sale of the cars, and only received a commission of between S$1,000 and S$2,000 for driving the rented cars into Malaysia.
Mr Wee also said that since these offences 11 years ago, Koh has not been involved in any illegal activities and has turned his life around. He is now married.
DPP Low, however, alleged that Koh should be seen as more culpable than Lai, calling Lai “merely a face of the syndicate”.
It was Koh who introduced Lai to Steven Koh, “the mastermind” behind the operation, who is still at large in Malaysia. In sentencing Koh, District Judge Low Wee Ping said the court was giving Koh “the benefit of doubt” as to whether he is in fact more culpable than his accomplice Lai.
For each count of cheating, Koh could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined. VANESSA PAIGE CHELVAN
