In Oct 2005, I wrote about a case in which a woman was sentenced to 11 years jail for a 1 hour shoplifting spree [Link]. She stole a few bangles and wallets. Yesterday, there was a report about a Briton working in Singapore who stole $13,000 from his managing director (see article below). The same man was also guilty of forging an employment letter by altering his annual salary from US$45K to US$100K. For his crimes, he was fined a total of $23K which is extremely small sum for him because he came from a rich family. 11 yrs for shoplifting and a small fine for stealing $13K.
Here is a case of a kleptomaniac charged for stealing $2335 worth of goods[Link]... despite her mental illness she was given a jail sentence. Another case of a man who stole $2500 worth of scrap metal jailed for several weeks[Link]. Here is one guy who was jailed for 33 months for stealing the handbags of prostitutes. 3 weeks jail for a cabby who kept the belongings left in his cab by absent minded passengers [Link]. A woman who used another persons credit card to pay $4700 worth of goods was jailed for 28 months[Link].
Somehow the sentencing is sometimes inconsistent with what ordinary Singaporeans think of the justice system. We generally accept that our system is strict and if you steal something, you can expect to go to jail.
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Ex-M1 CEO's son fined
By Elena Chong, Courts Correspondent
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Briton Alexander Montefiore (left) stole a total of $13,000 from its managing director, Mr William Louis Selig, using his DBS debit card. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW
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THE son of former MobileOne chief executive was fined a total of $23,000 on Friday for theft from his boss and forgery.Briton Alexander Montefiore, 28, a former sales trader of Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial services company, stole a total of $13,000 from its managing director, Mr William Louis Selig, using his DBS debit card. He had admitted to two charges of theft by withdrawing $2,000 each time from Mr Selig's DBS account on Nov 7 and 26 last year.
He also pleaded guilty to forging an employment letter issued by the company by altering his annual salary from US$45,000 to US$100,000 on Nov 14. Five other theft charges were taken into consideration during his sentencing.Montefiore, now unemployed, is the son of former MobileOne chief Neil Montefiore.The court was told that Mr Selig had entrusted his DBS ATM card and PIN number to Alexander Montefiore for making withdrawals.On Nov 26 when Mr Selig returned to his office and found his DBS ATM card missing from his wallet, he suspected Montefiore of taking it. He later discovered that Montefiore had made six unauthorised withdrawals without his permission. Lawyer Suresh Damodara submitted more than a dozen testimonials and letters attesting to his client's good conduct to show that what he did was out of character.Among them was from Mr Selig, who had forgiven Montefioire, who had also paid back the money before he was charged. Consultant psychiatrist Brian Yeo, said Montefiore was found to have a depressive disorder and was always dependent on his father. He also used to take money from his Dad when he needed it. His wife, who was in court, broke down after District Judge Lee Poh Choo had passed sentence. His father will take over as CEO of StarHub next January following the retirement of incumbent chief Terry Clontz.
Friday, September 18, 2009
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What can we really expect from kangaroo law ? It is always pro-business. Anyone with status and fame that contribute to Singapore economy will be helped by kangaroo law with lenient punishment. Remember the SPH female who kill someone in car accident, and jail for one day ?
Nothing inconsistent.
On the contrary, it's very consistent.
Consistency: Lenient sentence for foreigners, harsh sentence for Singaporeans.
Thank you for presenting the evidence on cases of stealing. For evidence on molest, it's here.
And for murder, one need only look at how foreign maids are sentenced for "manslaughter" (charge reduced), compared to Singaporeans.
And for commercial crimes, simply compare the treatment of Baring Bank's Nick Leeson versus the Asia Pacific Brewery guy.
Oh and btw, take note that the first two molesters in the link above were sentenced by the SAME judge, but she ordered two drastically different sentence, even though the foreigner molested more victims and touched bare skin compared to the local!!!!
That's why it's called a kangaroo court!
Harsh law for singaporean.
Pseudo Law for well connected FraudsTer
Immortal law for greater immortal.
What to do? it happened......
Yet the Judges sleep very well at night.
Convinced that they have done no wrong.
Not baffling.
Sad.
And dear Lucky, as PAP loses their grip, more worms will crawl out of the can.
You will hear more injustices.
Anti-Lucky
Sad isn't it. Being a Singaporean is truly a disadvantage in Singapore in many ways.
Justice and equality. That's a joke. Oh, I forgot, it is only an aspiration.
To Anon 20:52,
Sorry but you got it slightly wrong. It's lenient sentence for rich people (Singaporeans & foreigners), harsh sentence for poor Singaporeans
Remember Tang Wee Sung's kidney sale case?
Just a token 1 day jail for breaching the law. No mention at all about deterrant sentencing.
The rich and connected do have it better here.
Equality? Bah.
Singapore law has always been consistent.
I have yet to see an elite's son receive the same penalty compared to an ordinary man for the same or similar crime.
Drug-taking, road rage, theft, etc etc. It's usually the same; the rich usually get a "stern warning" and a slap on the wrist, while the lesser mortals be prepared to go to jail.
Singapore law has always been consistent about slapping the wrists of the elite.
Read this:
http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/2009/09/singapore-courts-abuse-law-to-favor-lee.html
In 1995, a Filipino maid was hanged for murder. There was a huge outcry in the Philippines including from their president, affecting greatly diplomatic ties.
Since then, there were a number of cases of maids who killed their employers but none were hanged! There was always some reason to convict them on a lesser charge!
In fact in one case a maid had pushed her elderly employer out of a flat to fall to her death. The case was reviewed due to the light initial sentence and the final outcome was life imprisonment, not death!
Maybe the gahmen want to avoid diplomatic spats at all costs, especially with a bigger country like Indonesia, after learning from the 1995 episode.
So there may be something more to it than just simply justice.
Of course, for lesser things, there is even more to it than simply justice as well!
Hi Lucky, not just sometimes baffling, well respected judges and lawyers who are members of IBA find it obscene.
What else can citizens expect with the biggest Chimp making Singapore a playground for his famiLee and bunch of stooges.
10 years ago my cousin's shop got into some trouble with the law due to infringement of copyright.
he is not selling pirated stuff, he is doing small business and he couldnt possible keep stock of everything cds.
He made his own cover so that customer can look at it and place order if they like. It also help him solve the theft problem in his shop.
During that time, those who sell pirated cd were fine about $200 per piece. But my cousin was fined $1000 per sample cover even though he proofed that all those are just sample and he has most of the original in stock, and there are no pirated cds in the shop at all.
he has to accept it and pay a fine of $20k even he think it is ridiculous, because fighting for justice can cause more then $20k and still chances is low with our system.
other stories like Archie Ong from NKF make me lose faith in the system totally.
Justice = Money.
"His wife, who was in court, broke down after District Judge Lee Poh Choo had passed sentence."
broke down? 154th really is 154th.
it should be happy until tears drop.
after that should go for big celebrations.
Judges, Police Chiefs, Army Chiefs in Singapore, Mr Lee Kuan Yew clan family, Wall St Bankers ALL of 'em SLEEPING together in a bed mah.
You want to change the system? Leave the country/system and attack it from outside.
How dare you have such a one-sided commentary... Lui Tuck Yew would be so displeased.
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Actually if his father had been a nobody, it probably would not even be mentioned and would be spared the embarassment!
So there are pros and cons of being somebody! Haha!
what's that for an embarassment?
I don't see Mr Shortie Wong Kan Seng being embarassed when Mr Mas Selamat gave him the slip.
It's obvious that the rich bought their way out.
Just like Mr Transport Yeo said good words for him when the NTU professor Ngo Kok Ann fucked around with KTV hostesses. Very PAP.
Not only does HDB has an income ceiling for buyers but so does crime.
The higher your salary...the lighter your sentence...
How dare Lucky Tan insult our monkeys, chimp, kangaroo, gorilla, elephant of the government ? Doesn't he has respect for our highly-paid useless animals ? How ungrateful is Lucky Tan !
First of all, why did Mr Selig entrust his DBS ATM card and PIN number to Alexander Montefiore?
If Alexander Montefiore is from a rich family and doesn't have any monetary problems, why would he "steal" money in such a blunt manner?
And why was Mr Selig not alarmed when he had money withdrawn from his account, 6 times? Is he that stupid?
And what? Mr Selig had forgiven Montefioire?
Perhaps justice had been made based on what actually happened, which was nothing more than a dodgy management from a dodgy firm.
Looks like the poor rich boy had been taken for a fool.
One Cuntry, Two Systems
Stop questioning the verdict! It is forbidden to question the verdict.
This is showing contempt to the court!
Not baffling. One law for the poor, one law for the rich, and no law for Lee Kuan Yew's relatives and cronies.
If Kwa Geok Choo's nephew raped your daughter or if Ho Ching's cousin murdered your son, you think the Singapore court would find them guilty?
In fact they would probably not even be charged and the media would never report it.
Just my point of view, I think those legally trained lawyers are also responsible for part of this.
That is, the lawyer will go all out to fight the case if there's a good reward waiting for them. On the other hand, they will not put in much effort fighting for the poor peasant.
I think this is the result of our system, where material gain is defined as an important thing in our life.
I think the poor should stay out of troubles. It can't be proven but we 'know' that anyone not having a decent job, not financially ok etc are not in good eye in Singapore. They are also 'less' seriously taken when in court. We as mortal if want to vent our frustrations, who will we pick on...?
LKY said equality in our Pledge is an aspiration.
May I also add that justice in the Pledge is also an aspiration.
Our world class justice system has often been puzzeling to me,a layman.
Not being a lwayer,however,I have refrained fr commenting on these issues.
I hope some self righteous lawyers(i am sure there are plenty of them here in Spore)would do some reserch and throw out the true picture.
Pl ask:if not me,then who?
I doubt if any lawyers will say anything. They know which side their bread is buttered. Look at what happened to TLH.
Everyone knows in Sg only 2 occupations earn big bucks and are recession proof - lawyers and doctors. You know why. The rest of us get peanuts.
Hopefully one day we can vote out the tyrants and restore equality to Sg - true equality that was meant to be.
"Hopefully one day we can vote out the tyrants and restore equality to Sg - true equality that was meant to be."
Sorry I am afraid that I do not shares these high ideas.No me.
I onlu hope that one day we have a more democatic system and the ruling party can be replaced or reform peacefully,a system of checks and balances can be introduced.
True equality?I dont think so.
I'm judgemental like Parka, and I HATE losers who complain about government and kangeroo courts!
"I'm judgemental like Parka, and I HATE losers who complain about government and kangeroo courts!"
Its ok,you can do so.
But why do you bother to come here?are you not beri stuupid?or does Lucky pay cash for attendence,hehe,more and more people in Spore are getting more stupid,and one is right here.
LOL!
Money corrupted everything. I think should be greed corrupted everything.
When PAP first started out, they fight for freedom, equality and etc. Gradually, they tasted success, money, and they changed.
They have betrayed their original goal when they joined the party.
Now they fight for their own greed.
"Singapore Justice is sometimes baffling.... "
That's an understatement.
The title should read: "Singapore Justice is OFTEN baffling...."
Hmmm...do I detect the white horse syndrome at work here?
"a dozen testimonials and letters attesting to his client's good conduct to show that what he did was out of character"
Lucky, the problem lies in these darned testimonials. Russell Tan had these too, by his association with some CEO-level clients and a wife of a supreme court worker, no less.
His mitigation was suffused with a lot of lies e.g. wife stealing his mother's handphone, while obliterating a lot of real events attesting to his past domestic violence.
Such is the state of of Singapore justice IMHO.
Check out: www.apill4life.blogspot.com
I forgot to add: Russell is a Malaysian citizen, who had rejected the offer to take up Singapore citizen.
In case you're wondering....
"Actually if his father had been a nobody, it probably would not even be mentioned and would be spared the embarassment!
So there are pros and cons of being somebody! Haha!
19/9/09 10:03"
Nonsense! actually if it had been a nobody, he would have been sent to jail for x years and his buttocks caned xx times.
Given the two choices, it is obvious that a rich kid would choose one-minute infamy (and subsequent escape to his home country) than x years of hardship + criminal record.
so oi, who are you kidding???
Lucky Tan, off topic a while, i thought that you may be interested to blog about a new MLM company known as Grand Royale International. They aim to go public listing by 2013 and how they are different from normal MLMs. The CEO is Steven Tan. I went to their prelaunch and i though that it was ridiculous, more info?
To judges, members of jury(ok sg don’t have), moddlycodded and 5 figures per month yes man MPs, readers of this blog, citizens, permanent residents and foreigners. Especially for the judges who once prayed that can get into the only highly competitive law school.
To say that every man being created equal is a high falutin idea as this will imply removing some article 152.
And we also know that all men are NOT created equal – in the sense that some men are more handsome than others, some are smarter than others, some make 5 figures per month for simply being a yes man while some have to slog until the day they lie inside coffin, some are born blind, and some are gifted naturally beyond the normal scope of an average person.
But there is one way that all men can be created equal. There is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Bill Gates, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, the lesser mortal the equal of a higher mortal, the toiler cleaner’s son the equal of a white horse and the ignorant man the equal of a first class honor.
That institution, ladies and gentlemen, is a court of law. It can be the Supreme Court or the smaller subordinate court. Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts can be the greatest levelers, and in our courts all men can be created equal.
Of course, we are no idealist to believe firmly in the integrity of our courts and maybe in a totally unbiased judgment of our judges. A court is only as sound as its judges, and a judge is only as sound as the men who make it up.
Given that the general election is here soon, I leave it to the readers and citizens of Singapore to decide whether the Goddess of Justice should be unblindfolded here.
"a dozen testimonials and letters attesting to his client's good conduct to show that what he did was out of character"
I thought testiomonials are not a valid form of evidence.
I have written many testimonials for students before. Many of them were untruthfully written. No choice. I can't be writing that the student is lazy or show attitude in class. That sort of testimonial not accepted by boss.
Likewise, I bet the rich kids' friends all write what he wants them to write. They probably write how good he is, blah blah blah.
The truth is, the fat rich kid stole on several occasions. The fat rich kid has integrity issues.
He needs to go to jail. My school has let off recurrent liars and thieves because of "school image". In the end, we are not thanked for being compassionate. The students we let off ALL never change. In fact, they laughed at us for being so silly.
Remember the dipomat who brought in porno tapes some years back?
What did he get? Nothing but a slap
on the wrists- a warning.
You can try and bring in the same stuff from across the causeway and see what's in stall for you.
Status and foreign passports do have it privileges here in LaLaLand.
Can I migrate and then reapply to be a PR in Singapore? I think that is the best deal.
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