Jail for Malaysian who helped loan sharks to harass debtors

SINGAPORE- A Malaysian man who came to Singapore to help a loan shark commit acts of harassment was jailed for 13 months and ordered to be given six strokes of the cane yesterday.

Lim Swee Heng, 47, admitted to two of four charges of causing annoyance to flat occupants in Woodlands and Yishun by splashing paint on their doors and the staircase landing walls.

He committed the offences with two other Malaysians, Chan Yang Jing and Chong Han Wai, on Jan 19.

Chan, 23, and Chong, 28, were earlier convicted and sentenced to 42 months in jail and 18 strokes of the cane.

The court heard that Lim saw an advertisement in local Chinese newspapers in Johor Baru last December for a driver to take people to Singapore.

He responded and was put in touch with an unlicensed moneylender known as Ryan - in fact, Malaysian Se Wei Kuang, 23. Ryan admitted he was a loan shark and told Lim he had to drive "commandos" to Singapore to commit acts of harassment.

Lim took the job and was promised $50 per trip. On Jan 18, Lim was instructed to pick up Chan and Chong in a Malaysian registered car and to meet Ryan. Ryan gave him $50 and told him to buy items at Mustafa shopping centre in Singapore for the harassment jobs. Lim drove Chan and Chong from Johor Baru to Singapore the next day.

At Mustafa, he bought seven cans of paint, two cans of spray paint, a screwdriver and hand gloves. Lim then drove the two men to flats in Woodlands and Yishun, where they sprayed graffiti on walls and splashed paint on the doors of the targeted units. The three men went to four flats before returning to Johor.

Lim was stopped by the police at Tuas checkpoint on Jan 24 after it was found that he was wanted.

District Judge Marvin Bay told Lim: "It is an aggravating factor that you and your accomplices, who are Malaysian nationals, have come to Singapore to commit crimes."

Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.