Former bank exec took upskirt video

A former senior bank executive was found guilty yesterday of filming an upskirt video of a woman at an escalator of Marina Bay Link Mall in 2013.

Yuen Kum Fai, a 45-year-old Singaporean, appeared visibly disappointed after he was convicted of insulting the woman's modesty by using his cellphone to take the upskirt video without her knowledge on Dec 9 that year.

He was then global head of personal banking and preferred banking at Standard Chartered Bank.

In his oral judgment, District Judge John Ng said the issues of the three-day trial were: Did Yuen intrude into the privacy of the woman, and did he intend to insult her modesty if there was such an intrusion?

"After a thorough evaluation in this case, I am satisfied that both questions are to be answered 'yes'," he said.

There was incriminating physical and oral evidence, he noted. A video clip of the offence was found in Yuen's phone.

The 27-year-old victim's colleague, who was several steps behind Yuen on the escalator, had seen him holding the camera phone below the victim's buttock and even tilting the phone subsequently. He alerted security officers.

Judge Ng found the colleague to be a truthful witness, although there were some inconsistencies in his testimony in court.

The oral evidence of the security officers and police officers who responded to the incident showed Yuen "exhibiting behaviour and demeanour consistent with a person who has been caught", said the judge.

Assistant Public Prosecutor Lim Yu Hui had said in her closing submissions that Yuen appeared to be nervous and his hands were shaking after he was caught. He had also apologised for his actions and made repeated requests to apologise to the victim.

Yuen's defence is that he did not have any intention to take any upskirt video.

He asserted that he was taking a random video while walking from the carpark to his office at Marina Bay Financial Centre as he had intended to screen-grab pictures of women's clothes for an intended shopping trip to Malaysia with his colleague.

Yuen's lawyer, Mr Amarjit Singh Sidhu, will submit a plea in mitigation on July 31. A decision on his two stood-down charges will be given that day.

The maximum penalty for insulting modesty is one year's jail and a fine.

elena@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on June 27, 2015.
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