Repeat offender gets 5 years' corrective training for stealing cashcards worth S$6,500 from 56 unlocked vehicles

SINGAPORE — Going about looking for unlocked vehicles at car parks, a man stole cashcards from the in-vehicle card readers that amounted to around S$6,500.

On Friday (Aug 18), he was sentenced to five years of corrective training after pleading guilty last month to three charges of theft, one charge of driving without a licence, and one charge of driving without insurance.

Muhammad Sharuddin Mohd Hassan, 31, had been working as a trailer truck driver at the Port of Singapore Authority when he committed the offences, of which eight theft charges have also been taken into consideration for the purpose of sentencing.

The court heard that between March 24 and April 17 this year, Sharuddin had, on 46 separate occasions, stolen 46 cashcards with the total value of S$5,256.30.

This was the subject of one of his theft charges.

He would go around various car parks in Singapore to look for unlocked vehicles and then steal cashcards left in the card readers installed in the vehicles.

With the cashcards, he would get refunds for the value in them and then put the money he received into his bank account.

These pre-paid cashcards are used by drivers to pay charges at Electronic Road Payment gantries, car parks and so forth.

The car park locations included Changi Airport Terminal 3, Marina Bay Sands, VivoCity mall and Suntec City Mall.

In two of his charges, the car owners had reported the card loss to the police.

Investigations revealed that in the early hours of March 30, Sharuddin had found the door to Mr Nigel Toh's car unlocked. It was parked at basement level one of the Concorde Hotel and Shopping Mall along Orchard Road.

He then took Mr Toh's cashcard with a stored value of S$236.18.

A few days later, on April 2, sometime between 11.30am and 12.50pm, Sharuddin struck again at Tanjong Beach car park on Sentosa Island.

He opened Mr Myles Andrew's unlocked car and took his cashcard containing S$161.89.

Sharuddin then left in a car that was rented from Shariot Car Rental. 

Despite not being a holder of a valid driving licence, he had rented the car using an account that was created with the details of his friend, who was unaware of what he did.

He also drove the car without a valid insurance.

Since his theft spree, no restitution has been made to the owners.

REPEAT OFFENDER

Seeking corrective training for Sharuddin, the prosecution noted that although he was charged with the theft of 46 cashcards, he had stolen 56 cashcards from different vehicles over the course of around two months and the total value stored in the cards was about S$6,500.

Sharuddin is also a repeat offender who has a string of theft-related convictions.

His most recent conviction was in 2014 where he was sentenced to five years of corrective training for stealing cashcards and dishonestly misappropriating more than S$14,000 from them.

Corrective training is typically ordered for repeat offenders and involves serving jail time for up to 14 years.

In pleading for leniency, Sharuddin, who was not represented by a lawyer, asked the court to grant him a sentence that would not be the corrective training that the prosecution sought. 

He said that this would let him be reunited with his wife and help her because she is facing financial difficulty alone.

In delivering the sentence, District Judge Jill Tan noted Sharuddin’s plea and his promise not to reoffend, but said that the manner in which he had stolen the cashcards was the same as his previous convicted offence in 2014.

The judge said that the pattern for stealing is a cause of concern and it must be impressed upon Sharuddin that he cannot keep resorting to stealing in this manner every time he is in financial trouble. 

For committing theft, Sharuddin could have been jailed for up to three years or fined, or both.

Anyone guilty of driving without a valid driving licence could be fined up to S$1,000 or jailed up to three months.

Those guilty of driving without a valid motor vehicle insurance could be fined up to S$1,000 or jailed up to three months.