Last man in 2014 gang robbery at Aljunied car park gets jail and caning

SINGAPORE: In 2014, nine men came from Malaysia to Singapore to commit gang robbery, with the appointed robbers wearing balaclavas and placing plasters on their fingertips to leave no trace behind.

They targeted the manager of a money-changing business and robbed him of about S$624,000 in various currencies before fleeing the country.

On Tuesday (Jan 3), the last of the nine men involved in the case was sentenced to seven years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane.

Malaysian Sivaraam Monion, 36, was only arrested in July last year.

He pleaded guilty to one count of gang robbery, with a second charge of conspiring to steal a Proton Wira - used for the robbery - taken into consideration.

Monion carried out the robbery with his eight accomplices, all Malaysians: Ravi Sandhira Sagaran, Vekneswaran Sekaran, David Mark Mari, Tachana Moorthy Peromal, Saravanak Kumar Karunanithy, Selvam Karupaya, Baskaran Balakrishnan and Annadurai Raman.

The victim was a 35-year-old Singapore permanent resident and the manager of a money-changing business.

The nine men planned the robbery, with some members entering Singapore to familiarise themselves with the country and others conducting surveillance on the victim.

They settled on robbing the victim using the stolen Proton, with various accomplices acting as look-outs or coordinators and others as robbers.

Sivaraam, who was one of the robbers, agreed to participate as he owed one of his accomplices RM10,000 and was told his loan would be waived if he joined in.

THE ROBBERY

On Nov 5, 2014, the victim left his home with his two-year-old son and drove to the arrival hall of Changi Airport Terminal 2, where he collected cash from his company's couriers.

The cash, comprising various currencies including Singapore and United States dollars, was stored in a luggage bag.

While the victim was heading towards his company director's home, the robbers tailed his car as it turned into an open-air car park in Aljunied Crescent.

The robbers intentionally stopped their Proton in front of and perpendicular to the victim's car, trapping his vehicle in the parking lot.

The victim was afraid and locked all the doors of his car, but the robbers approached him and shattered the driver's window.

One of them also threatened the victim, saying: "You want me to kill your son?"

The robbers punched the victim and restrained him while his young son was in the front passenger seat.

They then took two luggage bags from the car boot - one of which was empty and the other which contained the cash - and fled.

The robbers left Singapore within an hour of the robbery and the victim was taken to hospital with bruises.

The robbers were arrested over several years - Annadurai first in November 2014, followed by Ravi and Tachana.

Vekneswaran and Saravanak were extradited from Malaysia to Singapore in August 2016, while Baskaran was extradited in November 2020. 

Other than Sivaraam, the other men have been sentenced.

Most of the victim's stolen cash remains unrecovered.

The prosecutor sought seven years and 12 strokes of the cane for Sivaraam, while the defence asked for a year less of jail time.

He said the other accomplices had a greater role to play.

The prosecutor countered this by saying that Sivaraam was involved from the start, partially scoping out routes and planning for the robbery, and was directly involved in the commission of the robbery.

The judge said Sivaraam's role was as significant as the bulk of his accomplices, and as the last person being dealt with, his guilty plea was hardly a case of him showing remorse.

He said he saw no reason and "no basis whatsoever" to impose a sentence lower than his accomplices.