Public Prosecutor v Lau Ah Meng

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Lim Tse Haw
• Judgment Date: 24 March 2015
• Neutral Citation: [2015] SGDC 63
• Court: District Court (Singapore)
• Docket Number: DAC 8199/2014 & 3 Others
• Year: 2015
• Published date: 02 April 2015
• Hearing Date: 26 January 2015,26 February 2015
• Plaintiff Counsel: Customs Prosecuting Officer Mr Ngoo Chih Min
• Defendant Counsel: Mr Seah Choon Huat Johnny
• Citation: [2015] SGDC 63

District Judge Lim Tse Haw: INTRODUCTION

The accused, Lau Ah Meng (male of 59 years of age) (“the Accused”), a Singapore Citizen, pleaded guilty before me on the first day of his trial to three (3) charges for offences under the Customs Act (Cap 70) (“the Act”). The details of the offences are set out in the table herein:

Charge No.	Section	Nature of the Offence
1st charge (DAC 8199/2014)	Sec 128I(1)(b) of the Act read with s-34 of the Penal Code (“the Code”)	On 14 February 2014, being concerned in dealing with uncustomed goods, namely, 9 packets of assorted brands of duty unpaid cigarettes, each containing 20 sticks of such cigarettes, weighing 0.18 kilograms (“kg”) in common intention with Lim Koon Ming (“Lim”) and Ong Kay Hean (“Ong”)
3rd charge (DAC 79/2015)	Sec 128I(1)(b) of the Act	On 22 January 2015, being concerned in dealing with uncustomed goods, namely, One (1) carton containing 160 sticks of duty unpaid cigarettes and 5 packets of assorted brands of duty unpaid cigarettes, each containing 20 sticks of such cigarettes, weighing a total 0.42 kg.
4th charge (DAC 80/2015)	Sec 128I(1)(b) of the Act read with the relevant provisions in the GST Act and Orders	Offence related to the Goods and Services Tax (“GST”) for the offence in the 3rd charge.

Another charge¹ of GST related offence concerning the uncustomed cigarettes seized in the 1st charge was taken into consideration for the purpose of sentencing.

Prior to the commission of the present set of offences, on 18 September 2013, the Accused was convicted of, inter alia, an offence of being in possession of uncustomed goods, namely, tobacco products, weighing 1.828 kg under section 128I(1)(a)(ii) of the Act, which conviction has not been set aside. Hence he was liable to enhanced punishment under section 128L(5) of the Act.

Having considered all relevant sentencing factors, I sentenced the Accused as follows:

Charge No.	Section	Sentence
1st charge (DAC 8199/2014)	Sec 128I(1)(b) of the Act read with s. 34 of the Code	Fine of $8000, in default 4 weeks’ imprisonment.
3rd charge (DAC 79/2015)	Sec 128I(1)(b) of the Act	Fine of $10,000, in default 5 weeks’ imprisonment.
4th charge (DAC 80/2015)	Sec 128I(1)(b) of the Act read with the relevant provisions in the GST Act and Orders	Fine of $4000, in default 2 weeks’ imprisonment.
Total sentence	Fines of $22,000, in default 11 weeks’ imprisonment

Being dissatisfied with the sentences imposed, the Accused has appealed against the same. STATEMENT OF FACTS ² Fact Pertaining to the 1st Charge (DAC 8199/2014)

On 14 February 2014, at about 6.05pm, Customs officers conducted an operation at the vicinity of No. 86/88 Lorong 6 Geylang (“the said apartments”). Lim was seen standing near the road outside the said apartments and speaking with drivers of cars that approached him. Ong was also seen standing further down the road outside the said apartments, a short distance away from Lim. Lim was seen collecting monies from these drivers and shouting the name of a particular brand of cigarettes to the Accused, who was positioned at the ground floor of the said apartments at a walkway between the two units at No.86 and No.88 (“the walkway”). The Accused would disappear into the walkway and emerge shortly with a packet of cigarettes. At the same time, Ong would walk over to the Accused and the said cars would move forward to where Ong was standing. Ong would take the cigarettes from the Accused near the walkway, return to the road, and hand the cigarettes over to the drivers of the said cars.

These transactions and activities involving the Accused, Ong, Lim and the drivers of passing cars lasted until about 7.45pm when the Customs officers moved in and arrested the Accused near the walkway. Ong and Lim were arrested just outside the said apartments.

Investigations revealed that the Accused, Ong and Lim were working together with common intention to sell duty unpaid cigarettes to drive-by customers. These customers would approach Lim, place an order for duty unpaid cigarettes and make payment in cash. Lim would then shout the order to the Accused who would then retrieve the cigarettes ordered from the said apartments. These duty unpaid cigarettes would be handed over by the Accused to Ong, who in turn would hand over the same to the customers.

Between 6.05pm and 7.45pm, the Accused, Ong and Lim had worked together in common intention to sell 9 packets of assorted brands of duty unpaid cigarettes, each packet containing 20 sticks of such cigarettes weighing a total of 0.180 kg this manner.

The Accused, Ong and Lim were aware that the excise duty on the said cigarettes was not paid when they committed the above acts. They were thus concerned in dealing with uncustomed cigarettes with intent to defraud the Government of the duty unpaid, an offence under section 128I(1)(b) of the Act read with section 34 of the Code. The excise duty applicable to the said cigarettes was $63.36.

Facts Pertaining to the 3rd and 4th Charge (DACs 79 & 80/2015)

On 22 January 2015 at about 8.00pm, some police officers were conducting foot patrol at Lorong 6 Geylang when they saw the Accused at the said apartments behaving suspiciously near a cardboard box (“the box”).

At about 8.10pm, the police officers stopped the Accused and conducted a check on the box. They found 1 carton containing 160 sticks of duty unpaid cigarettes and 5 packets of assorted brands of duty unpaid cigarettes, each containing 20 sticks of such cigarettes inside the box, weighing a total of 0.420 kg. The Accused admitted knowledge of the said cigarettes and he was arrested. The said cigarettes and the box were seized.

Investigations revealed that the Accused was at the said apartments to keep a lookout for his accomplices who were selling the said cigarettes in the vicinity. The Accused would walk around the said apartments and warn his accomplices of the presence of enforcement officers. He would be paid about $50 to $60 for doing so. The more duty unpaid cigarettes...