Fugitive gets 7 years for robbery, car theft

Fugitive gets 7 years for robbery, car theft

SINGAPORE - Low Sze Song was 38 when he drove a getaway car for accomplices in five robberies, including that of a jewellery shop, more than two decades ago in 1991.

Yesterday, the law finally caught up with him. Low, now 61, was jailed seven years and banned from driving for five years for robbery and theft of a car.

Deported here from Malaysia last October, he had been on the run from 1993 to 2001 before he was arrested in Malaysia and given 18 years for firearms robbery.

Low had fled Singapore in 1993 to escape punishment for his part in the $275,915 goldsmith robbery and four robberies at Cuppage Centre carpark.

Assistant Public Prosecutor Koh Huimin said yesterday that investigations showed that on April 5, 1991, Low had met Steven Ang Keng Leong, who told him of his plan to rob a goldsmith shop.

Low agreed to drive the getaway car, which he had stolen from a colleague at Eden Grove.

Ang took along a chopper, alighted at North Bridge Centre and walked into Nan Yi Jewellers.

He then whipped out his chopper and warned the staff not to raise the alarm. He scooped up the gold jewellery and put them into two plastic bags and his trouser pockets.

While fleeing, he dropped one of the bags, which was recovered. The estimated value of the unrecovered jewellery was $275,915.

Jewellery worth $8,372 and $5,100 in cash were recovered when Ang was arrested on April 14 that year.

The day before, Ang, who was armed with a chopper, robbed Ms Wong Chwee Chan, then 31, of her $1,400 watch and $350 in cash at the Cuppage Centre carpark. The other co-accused, Lim Beng Seng, who had a knife, acted as a lookout.

Ten minutes later, the duo held up Haji Mahmud Johari, then 43, and took $250. The victim was hurt when he put up a struggle.

Low absconded in April 1993 after serving a one-year sentence for theft in 1992. He also has a conviction for armed robbery.

His lawyer Ravinderpal Singh said his client regretted his actions and had the chance to reflect on his mistakes in the 12 years he had spent in the Malaysian prison. "He was facing financial difficulty and resorted to crime. He had people who offered him the opportunity to earn easy money by committing crimes and he accepted their invitation to join them," said the lawyer.

Both Ang and Lim have been dealt with.

This article was published on May 6 in The Straits Times.

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

This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.