SUSS Student Sentenced for Providing People With ‘Untraceable’ Cars that Were Used in Crimes

Sidelines are pretty in-demand nowadays, and it’s unsurprising why. Apart from generating passive income, they could also potentially tide you through a job-hit crisis such as this one.

All in all, not a bad idea.

But like all things, sidelines are multi-faceted as well. That is to say, there are positive sidelines…

And there are negative ones as well.

For the record…

You don’t get penalised any less just because you do crime for a side living.

SUSS Student Sentenced for Providing People With ‘Untraceable’ Cars that Were Used in Crimes

Tan Wen Jie, 28, has been sentenced to an imprisonment term of 26 months and two weeks for supplying “untraceable” cars to criminals.

The final year accountancy student at the Singapore University of Social Sciences is reportedly appealing against the sentence.

He had conspired with Lee Wui Liang, 35, to earn profits from the sale and rental of deregistered cars.

He would purchase cars with expiring certificates of entitlement, modify them and resell the vehicles.

Each car’s license plate would be replaced with a cloned version, and the in-vehicle unit would be switched with a registered vehicle’s.

As such, the fake rendition would assume the identity of an existing registered car, with similar colour, make and model.

They were then retailed and rented out on Carousell, on a “no questions asked” basis.

Cars included the likes of BMWs, Hondas and a Mazda 6.

Preparatory documents, which enable the vehicles to appear exported (or about to be), were also set up beforehand.

From the looks of it, it appeared to be the perfect crime.

Except That It Wasn’t

Tan was eventually caught after police traced one of the modified cars, which was utilised in an unlicensed harassment case.

Thorough investigations were conducted, and Tan, Lee as well as other affiliated parties were all rounded up.

In court, Deputy Public Prosecutor Teo Siu Ming pushed for a jail term of 30 months and two weeks.

In mitigation, Tan’s lawyer, Mr Tan Beng Swee, stated that his client was just one year away from graduation, and requested for a term of between 12 and 18 months.

He added that Tan had not actually made much from the venture, and “would have to pay a heavy price for his reckless conduct”.

But District Judge Marvin Bay disagreed, stating that the situation called for a deterrent measure.

“These vehicles constitute a phantom population of cars using our public roads, outside of the regulatory and inspection regime of the LTA,” he said.

“(There is) enormous potential for knock-on consequences in civil and criminal liabilities if these vehicles, which were supposedly deregistered and exported, are involved in accidents or used to commit crimes.”

Tan was eventually sentenced to 26 months and two weeks’ jail for multiple charges, including cheating and false declarations.

He faces 77 charges in total.

Tan has since expressed a desire to appeal against the sentence, and is currently out on $20,000 bail.

For each count of cheating, he could have faced a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine.

Other Instances

Unfortunately, car-related cheating instances aren’t exactly one-in-a-million.

In early 2018, 56-year-old Lee Kin Wah put pen to paper in a credit facility contract with SRS Auto Holdings.

SRS would provide financing in terms of loans, while Lee would mortgage a vehicle of at least equivalent value.

The latter would then sell off the pledged vehicle at a presumably higher price, so as to settle the loan and earn some profits at the same time.

Instead of fulfilling his end of the bargain, however, Lee decided to keep the funds to supplement his company’s cash flow, in the process alienating both financer and consumer.

From September 2017 and February 2019, 17 customers reportedly forked out between S$10,178 and S$100,073 for an assortment of vehicles.

Though they managed to receive their cars, the customers would eventually realise that the much-coveted ownership title had not been transferred over.

In fact, in some cases, the cars were even repossessed and later retailed to other buyers.

The total amount involved some S$909,000.

Lee eventually pleaded guilty to six counts of cheating. He was sentenced to four years and four months in jail.

Moral of the story? Don’t test the system.

Featured Image: MaddyZ / Shutterstock.com