Former Restaurant Owner Continued to Intimidate & Threaten Victim While on Bail

Popular restaurant Zam Zam has had its name embroiled in a scandal that’s been playing out for five years now, much like the makings of a blockbuster Netflix series.

As much as we wish it was like Chopped, no, the scandal has nothing to do with fighting over who has the more delicious murtabak, but rather a petty feud between two rivals.

Zam Zam VS Victory

In case you haven’t heard, the previous owner of Zam Zam, Zackeer Abbass Khan, had been sentenced to jail over charges of hiring someone to slash a man back in May.

The man in question was Victory restaurant supervisor Liakath Ali Mohamed Ibrahim, Zackeer’s old business partner.

Bad blood soiled between the two buddies when their restaurant failed, with Zackeer accusing Liakath of not paying his share of the money they owed, thus having to pay it all by himself. He also claimed that he was cheated of money they should have gotten for selling the failed business.

So, as all rational men do, Zackeer engaged his friend Anwer Ambiya Kadir Maideen to hire secret society member Joshua Navindran Surainthiran to slash Liakath across the face. They were all sentenced to at least five years’ jail, and Zackeer had appealed against the judge’s decision on bail.

At least, that was the last we heard of the developing saga that you can read here.

Now, on the next episode of Victory Over Zam Zam: A Tale Of Murtabaks, Betrayal, and Violence…

Badly Behaved Even On Bail 

One would have thought being on bail for a criminal offence would humble a person, but I guess not – for it might even have made them fearless.

On 27 October, Zackeer was once again charged with two other offences on counts of criminal intimidation and committing a rash act.

Three days back, on 24 October, he allegedly criminally intimidated Mr Amir Norman Halim at 719 North Bridge Road, near the Zam Zam restaurant.

Charge sheets wrote that Zackeer had threatened the man by saying, “Why you fight Habeeb? If you fight again, I poke your eye. If you love your family, you work properly. If not you see I kill you. I am not afraid, if I kill you. Because I already going in. If you fight again, in 2 days, you see I kill you.”

It’s unclear what his threat was about, but Amir might have been fighting with fellow co-worker Habeeb, causing Zackeer to get angry.

Not letting his threats just stay as threats, Zackeer had apparently also swerved his car towards Amir before braking, causing the man to have to step back to avoid getting hit. This constituted as committing a rash act.

Appealing Again

Appealing to the court, Zackeer tried to play the sympathy card by saying he had been on bail for five years, and that he had five young children at home to feed.

Insisting that he did not re-offend, he also held that he was just driving his car as per normal, and had just gone through a surgery for his heart problems the previous month.

No bail has been offered to Zackeer this time around, and he will return to court next month. Unable to let him walk out as a free man any longer, he has also been remanded, which means he will be placed in police custody until he appears in court again.

According to Singapore Legal Advice, charges of criminal intimidation could lead Zackeer to face a two-year jail term along with a fine or both. As for committing a rash act, he could face a six-month jail term with a fine. However, for it is a repeat offence in his case, the verdict is yet to be seen.

Zackeer’s case is currently pending appeal at the High Court.

Hopefully, he will not continue to ruin the reputation of the beloved restaurant any further, and this series can come to a close peacefully.