Man poses as jail guard, emails President to plead innocence, and forges sick leave to evade court

SINGAPORE: A man pretended to be a jail guard and messaged the President, a Minister, and the Parliamentary Secretariat to plead his innocence. Additionally, he sought assistance from the Ministry of Social and Family Development. Moreover, he went the extra mile and forged a sick leave certificate to avoid his attendance at court. 

The 25-year-old suspect now faces eight counts, including impersonating another person, spreading false terrorist information, and dishonestly using forged documents. He was guilty to four charges, and the remaining charges are to be considered by the judge during ruling. He was then sentenced to nine months imprisonment. 

Case details 

According to investigations, the suspect had been previously convicted of spreading false information in October 2023. He was then sentenced to 28 weeks in prison. 

In February 2024, he pretended to be a jail guard and sent emails to the President and the Parliament Secretariat, to claim his innocence, alleging police bribery and judicial miscarriage of justice. Later on, he pretended to be the same prison guard and sent an email to a Minister, claiming that his mother was often abused by his father and hoped to receive assistance from the Ministry of Social and Family Development.

During his bail period, the suspect needed medical assistance in July 2025 and took two days of sick leave. The leave certificate stated that it did not include his absence from court hearings. He then altered the contents of the certificate, stating that he had suffered a fall that resulted in knee swelling requiring a month of sick leave, and that he was not able to appear in court.

In his plea for leniency, the suspect stated that his mother was in a nursing home and he hoped to be released from prison to take care of her. He then asked for a lighter sentence. Following that, the suspect submitted a letter of mitigation to the court, admitting that he had made a mistake and would seek treatment for his mental health after his release. 

The prosecution stated that the defendant had a similar criminal record, and requested the judge to sentence him to seven to nine months in prison.

Other related news 

In other related news, there was a recent report where a man did not learn from his past mistakes when, in less than two months after being released on parole, he already plotted a rental scam and defrauded more than $9,000 from three people. 

With this, the 34-year-old suspect now faces eight fraud charges and pleaded guilty to three of them. He was sentenced to 22 months and 175 days imprisonment.

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