Man gets jail, caning for extortion bid in kidnapping case
SINGAPORE — For conspiring to commit extortion in a case related to two brothers kidnapped in Penang, a 26-year-old Singaporean was on Monday (Feb 6) sentenced to two years’ jail and one stroke of the cane.
Benjamin Ling Jialiang was charged with two counts of the offence, with one count taken into consideration during sentencing.
He is the first of three people charged in the extortion case to be found guilty and sentenced. Two others — Singaporean Judy Wee Aye Fong, 52, and Singapore permanent resident Fong Ling Ling, 46 — have claimed trial, which will take place later this month.
A Chinese national known as “Huang Dong”, who knew Wee, is also allegedly involved in the crime, but could not be traced and is believed to be based in China.
The court heard on Monday that Huang, Wee and Fong were involved in a failed “currency exchange transaction” agreement, along with one of the two kidnapped brothers, Kenneth Ng, 28.
The agreement involved a sum of 25 million Venezuelan bolivars (S$3.5 million) in a Venezuelan bank account that Huang wanted to exchange into either US or Singapore dollars. As he was based in China, it was agreed the intermediaries facilitating the transaction would receive a commission.
It was Ling who introduced Ng to Wee, and Wee put Ng in touch with Huang. Ng later found a man named “Ali”, a Malaysian moneylender who was willing to exchange the Venezuelan currency for a sum of S$1 million.
It was agreed that Huang would transfer the foreign currencies to Ali’s bank account. After Ali got the money, he would send S$1 million to a bank account designated by Huang.
Ng would get S$195,000 as commission for his part, Ling would receive about S$180,000, Wee would be given S$255,000, and Fong, S$20,000. Huang would keep the rest of the cash.
However, when Ali did not transfer the S$1 million to Huang’s designated account, Ng and his younger brother Gabriel went to Penang, Malaysia by bus to locate him. There, on Feb 22 last year, a Malaysian named Michael informed Ng that Ali’s particulars were fake. Shortly after, three other men bundled Ng and his younger brother into a car and held them captive at a hotel. Introducing themselves as debt collectors, another two men later instructed Ng to pay US$250,000 (S$352,000) in exchange for their release.
Ng then contacted his fiancee to secure the amount, but the fiancee and her brother lodged a police report.
Two days later on Feb 24, Ling and his accomplices were arrested following a joint operation between the Singapore and Malaysian police forces. Ng and his brother were found safe.
On Monday, the court heard that despite being aware that the brothers were held hostage, Ling did not approach the police for help.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Christine Liu, who asked for a stiffer sentence of two-and-a-half years’ jail and two strokes of the cane, said that Ling had abetted the extortion, which is a serious crime, and he was part of an organised, syndicated activity.
In mitigation, defence lawyer Josephus Tan pointed out that Ling had played a “passive role” and was not the primary instigator. Mr Tan added that Ling had also cooperated with the authorities, that he was prepared to testify for the prosecution, and that he was remorseful.
