More charges against Malaysian car 'exporter'

SINGAPORE - A man accused of exporting stolen Malaysian vehicles out of Singapore is now in more trouble.

Malaysian Nyo Ah Hai faces an additional 118 charges when he was presented in court again on Wednesday.

Nyo, 50, had initially been slapped with 16 counts of trying to dispose stolen cars and one count of allegedly possessing a fake passport. He was first charged on May 16.

Since then, Nyo, who was arrested on May 14 at Changi Airport Terminal 2, had been placed in remand to allow police to complete its investigations.

He had used a passport bearing the name Lim Chai Kim when he was detained.

Court documents showed that Nyo had allegedly coordinated the disposal of more than 130 stolen cars with a few other men.

His illegal activities were said to have started in October 2013 and lasted to the middle of this month.

The number of stolen vehicles processed and made ready for shipment varied from day to day. Nevertheless, they were all sent to 7, Penjuru Close.

On most days, only a single car was prepared at the above address.

On March 30 this year, five stolen cars were said to have been processed by Nyo and his accomplices, with the same thing occurring on April 29.

On Wednesday, a Singaporean, said to be one of Nyo’s accomplices, was taken to court.

Tan Keok Beng, 50, was charged with three counts of allegedly trying to dispose of stolen property.

POPULAR CARS

Most of the cars the group targeted were Toyotas.

The favourite models — a mix of multi-purpose and sports utility vehicles, and trucks — identified by the police were the Vellfire, Fortuner and Hilux.

The cost of a used Hilux is about RM70,000 ($27,200).

In Nyo’s earlier charge sheets, it was revealed that one used Fortuner that was allegedly disposed by Nyo had a value of about RM100,000. A newer Fortuner can cost about RM190,000.

The most expensive car on the list of stolen vehicles was the Vellfire. It has a price tag of between RM232,000 and RM400,000.

Nyo’s profits for the last seven months is estimated to be in the millions of dollars.

In court, Nyo who appeared younger than his age, appeared jovial as he was seen talking to the other accused men.

Tan, on the other hand, wore a stern expression as the charges were read to him in Mandarin.

If convicted of disposing of stolen property, both men can be jailed up to five years, fined or both.

For possession of a forged passport, Nyo can be jailed up to 10 years and fined.

Nyo and Tan will appear in court again next week.

This article was first published on May 31, 2014.
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