SINGAPORE: A man who attempted to sell two of his mother’s cars in order to pay the debts he incurred at “diao hua” clubs received a 12-week jail sentence on Wednesday (27 Mar) on two charges of forging sales and purchase agreements.
The man’s lawyer stressed that his mother has forgiven him and asked for a fine instead of jail time.
The man, who goes by Kent but whose real name is Liu Kuei Liang, has appealed the sentence and is presently out on bail, CNA reported.
Liu got into debt due to his purchases of garlands at “diao hua” clubs, which he bought to put around the necks of the female singers at the clubs. His problems began in August 2022, the time when he often went to the clubs. As he badly needed the money to pay back his debtors, he came up with the idea of selling two of his mother’s cars, a Rolls Royce Dawn 6.6 V12 and a Mini Cooper SE.
He then reached out to a representative of Autoart Singapore, Mr Low Lye Seng, telling him of his intent to sell the vehicles. They agreed on a selling price of S$700,000 for the Rolls Royce and S$130,000 for the Mini Cooper.
Liu then forged his mother’s signatures on the sales and purchase agreements that Mr Low had sent to him. He also lied to Mr Low, telling him his mother was in Taiwan when she was actually in Singapore.
When another staff from the car dealer asked him for his mother’s phone number, Liu provided the number of a friend in Taiwan, whom he had roped in. Liu’s friend took the call and deceived Autoart into believing that Liu’s mother approved the sale. Autoart then sent a deposit payment of S$100,000 for the Rolls Royce and S$50,000 for the Mini Cooper to Liu.
However, by Aug 16, 2022, Liu’s mother filed a police report against him due to the forgery of her signature.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Vishnu Menon asked that Liu be jailed for between four and six months, even though Liu’s lawyer argued that he had already been forgiven by his mother and the vehicles had been returned to her. The lawyer said that Liu should be given a high fine instead of jail time.
District Judge Brenda Chua, however, noted the high value of the goods involved in the case and argued that there were two victims: Liu’s mother and Autoart Singapore. She added that Liu had made neither restitution nor amends.
“I agreed with the prosecution that whilst the accused pleaded guilty, restitution did not emanate from the accused. As the prosecution stated: (If) someone else pays for your crime, how can we say that ‘you are remorseful’?” CNA quotes the judge as saying. /TISG