Youth facing cheating and Awol-from-NS charges absconds before court hearing
Muhammad Nadhir Kadir Maideen allegedly went absent without official leave from National Service. On Sept 25, 2019, he was absent from his court hearing by giving his mother the slip.
SINGAPORE — A 19-year-old youth was to face more than a dozen criminal charges on Wednesday (Sept 25), including being permanently absent without official leave (Awol) from National Service (NS), but his lawyer disclosed that he fled just before the hearing.
Mr Tan Jeh Yaw told District Judge May Mesenas that his client, Muhammad Nadhir Kadir Maideen, had told his mother that he wanted to go to the toilet before a taxi arrived to take them to the State Courts in the morning.
Nadhir then absconded.
A warrant of arrest has been issued against him and his bail was revoked.
His mother — who had posted bail for him — has to attend a hearing in November to explain why the bail amount should not be forfeited.
Nadhir was due to plead guilty to some of the 13 assorted charges against him, which include theft, criminal breach of trust, and cheating people over camera rentals.
The offences he is accused of committing, as reflected in court documents, are:
Going Awol from his NS duty in the Singapore Civil Defence Force from Dec 26 last year to Jan 30 this year.
Misappropriating almost S$5,000 in camera equipment, including a Canon EOS 5D Mark III DSLR body worth S$2,000 and a Canon camera lens worth S$2,400, from one Jasper Phua Kai Wen at the void deck of a public housing block in Pasir Ris in January.
Cheating two people into handing over cameras and camera equipment, by lying that he was renting them for S$50 a day.
Cheating someone else into handing him a camera and lens, by saying he wanted to rent them, but with plans to sell them for monetary gain.
Cheating a 22-year-old man on three occasions in January, by pretending to be his friend or the friend’s cousin and asking for S$50 or S$100 for the friend’s “grandfather’s prayer and ritual” through phone text messages.
Cheating someone into handing over an Oppo A3 mobile phone and S$500 in cash, by lying that he could upgrade the phone to an Oppo R15 Pro for that amount.
Misappropriating two iPhones in August last year and January this year.
Stealing a DBS Platinum credit card from someone in a Sengkang flat in July last year and using it to pay for a pack of cigarettes.
This is the second such case in about a week, of an accused who absconded before a court hearing.
Visvanathan Vadivelu, 50, who had pleaded guilty to armed robbery and drug-related offences, fled when a court hearing took a 10-minute break on Sept 17. A warrant of arrest was issued after his lawyer informed the court.
He was arrested by the police a few days later.
