E-Bicycle Shop Director Jailed For Forging LTA Approval Seals

By
Ashley Seek
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Laws are in place for a reason.

Without them, there wouldn’t be things deterring crimes and accidents would be more prevalent.

And even for purchase and ownership of things like power-assisted bicycles (PABs), there are rules too.

But the long story short is that the Land Transport Authority (LTA) needs to approve it first.

So if you try your hand at something like forging their seals, you’re in serious trouble.

E-Bicycle Shop Director Jailed For Forging LTA Approval Seals

But that’s apparently what Chen Dihua, 35, tried to do, The Straits Times reported.

The director of Wheel Power Technology, an electric bicycle shop, tried thrice to get some imported PABs approved by the authorities.

However, all his attempts, which were done between March 2016 to June 2017, turned out unsuccessful.

Some reasons included incomplete documents, missing supporting documents, and the PABs travelling over 30km per hour.

These all mounted into financial trouble for Chen.

Attempting Forgery

Chen eventually came across a “solution”.

He found a manufacturer on Alibaba.com who could help him forge the seals. Everything from blue locks with a marking, the LTA logo and a serial number.

Yep, from Alibaba.com of all places. It sounds shady, but he didn’t let that stop him.

After getting these seals, he fixed them onto 38 PABs and sold them for roughly S$1,200 each.

But hold up… blue locks?

From 1 Feb 2016 onwards, PABs that were approved by LTA would be given an orange seal, effectively phasing out the blue one.

Image: LTA

Those whose PABs had blue seals had to have them registered by 31 Jan 2018.

Image: LTA

And he allegedly knew these changes yet placed orders to forge them based on the old version.

Which kind of meant he essentially dug a grave for himself.

LTA eventually caught up to his shenanigans, forcing him to confess in August 2017 about the forgery.

Defence and Consequences

Chen had a lawyer, Mr Riko Isaac from Tembusu Law, defend him in court.

The latter stated that his actions were simply rash and came from his financial desperation.

However, District Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan and LTA prosecutor Ng Jun Kai agreed that it was not a viable reason.

Chen was sentenced to 13 weeks in jail on Tuesday (23 Feb).

Sadly, the repercussions also extended to the people who did buy the unapproved PABs.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Goh Yong Ngee said that the 38 buyers of the unauthorised e-bicycles sold by Chen needed to be tracked down and given “exceptional approval”.

In the worst-case scenario, they would have to give up the PAB.

Along with an LTA prosecutor, DPP Goh said that forgery would make needing LTA’s approval useless.

Even after approval, sellers still need to go to an LTA-authorised inspection centre to get the seals fixed onto the PABs.

Remember: the alternative route might not always be the way out, and sometimes may even cause you more harm than good.

Rather, just get an approved e-bike than to risk an unauthorised one causing devastating incidents.

Feature Image: moreimages / Shutterstock.com

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Ashley Seek
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