Ex-bank exec fined $6k for taking upskirt video

Ex-bank exec fined $6k for taking upskirt video

A former senior bank executive, convicted of insulting the modesty of a woman by taking an upskirt video of her, was given a $6,000 fine yesterday.

Yuen Kum Fai, 45, was global head of personal banking and preferred banking at Standard Chartered Bank at the time of the offence. Now unemployed, he was cleared of two other similar charges. He appeared relieved and hugged his relatives and lawyer Amarjit Singh Sidhu outside the court.

After a three-day trial, Yuen was found guilty of intruding into the privacy of the 27-year-old woman on an escalator at Marina Bay Link Mall in Marina Boulevard, without her knowledge, on Dec 9, 2013.

The court heard that he was on the escalator when the victim's colleague caught him taking an upskirt video of the victim. The colleague was standing about five to six steps behind him at the time.

The colleague informed two security officers nearby. Yuen insisted he had no intention of taking any upskirt video but was taking a random video to screen-grab pictures of women's clothes for a shopping trip.

Imposing the $6,000 fine, District Judge John Ng said he was guided by the judgment of Justice Chan Seng Onn in a similar case. The High Court judge had said in March that a custodial term may not be warranted when there is no planning and premeditation, among other factors to be considered.

Yuen could have been jailed for up to one year and/or fined for insulting modesty.


This article was first published on August 1, 2015.
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