Public Prosecutor v Quek Soon Chai
| Jurisdiction | Singapore |
| Judge | Kan Shuk Weng |
| Judgment Date | 28 July 2020 |
| Neutral Citation | [2020] SGDC 164 |
| Court | District Court (Singapore) |
| Hearing Date | 08 April 2020,11 June 2020,16 January 2020,12 March 2020,15 January 2020,17 January 2020,04 June 2020,08 July 2020,27 March 2020 |
| Docket Number | DAC No. 938611 of 2018 & Ors |
| Plaintiff Counsel | Mr Gurmit Sing and Ms Lim Li Ting, Singapore Customs |
| Defendant Counsel | Mr Charles Yeo Tao Hui (M/s L F Violet Netto) discharged on 4 June 2020, Mr Daniel Atticus Xu (M/s Exodus Law Corporation) from 5 May 2020, |
| Subject Matter | Criminal Law,Statutory offences,Customs Act (Cap 70, 2004 Rev Ed),Words and Phrases,"Concerned in",Criminal Procedure and Sentencing,Sentencing,Totality principle |
| Published date | 06 August 2020 |
The Accused, a 72-year-old male Singaporean, claimed trial to:
The Accused was liable for enhanced punishment under section 128L(5A) of the Customs Act.
The Accused was represented.
I convicted the Accused on 8 April 2020 after a trial, and the Accused consented to four other similar charges being taken into consideration for the purpose of sentencing. After hearing submissions on sentence from the Prosecution, as well as the mitigation plea presented by the Defence, I sentenced the Accused to a total of 26 months’ imprisonment and a total fine of $3,517,695.00 (in default, 18 months’ imprisonment) on 8 July 2020.
The Accused has filed an appeal against his conviction and sentence, and the sentence is stayed pending appeal. I now set out my reasons for my decision.
The Prosecution’s CaseThe Prosecution adduced evidence that, on 9 March 2018 at about 9.00am, officers from the Singapore Customs prepared to mount an operation upon receipt of information relating to duty-unpaid cigarettes activities. The officers were instructed to look out for a truck with the license plate GZ6321P (“the Truck”).
The operation eventually led to the arrest of the Accused and his accomplice, Ong Lean Tiong (“Ong”) (PW8) at the vicinity of Block 251 Jurong East Street 24 (“Block 251”) on the same day at about 3.30pm. A total of 256kg on duty-unpaid cigarettes were found in the Truck. Both the Accused and Ong were brought back to the Customs Operation Command (“COC”), together with the duty-unpaid cigarettes.
Ong pleaded guilty to the charges against him and testified against the Accused at the trial.
I will set out the Prosecution’s case in three parts:
In the morning of 9 March 2018, based on information received, several Customs Officers prepared to take part in an operation led by Operations Commander, Chief Customs Officer SG1 Tan Kay Hwa (“CCO SG1 Tan”) (PW5). As part of the operations, Deputy Chief Superintendent Tung Lin Chye (“DCSC Tung”) (PW1) and Chief Customs Officer Tan Chee Hong (“CCO Tan”) (PW4) were tasked to keep a look-out for the Truck1.
At about 12.45pm, CCO Tan left the COC with Higher Customs Officer Loh Hong Meng (“HCO Loh”) (PW6) in a vehicle driven by Higher Customs Officer Zahid bin Anuar (“HCO Zahid”). They arrived at the vicinity of Changi South Street 1 at about 2.05pm, and waited for further instructions2.
Simultaneously, DCSC Tung arrived at the vicinity in a vehicle driven by Chief Customs Officer Lim Chong Heng (“CCO Lim”). Upon arrival, DCSC Tung spotted the Truck parked in front of a bus “Bas Pekerja” (“the Bus”). Ong, who was the driver of the Truck, was seen meeting with the driver of the Bus, who was an unknown male Chinese3.
At about 2.32pm, the Bus left the vicinity before returning a few minutes later. The Bus driver proceeded to park the Bus behind the Truck. Ong then alighted form the Truck and spoke to the Bus driver. Moments later, DCSC Tung observed cardboard boxes, which he suspected to contain duty-unpaid cigarettes, being transferred from the Bus to the Truck by the Bus driver and three other unknown male Chinese4.
After the cardboard boxes were transferred to the Truck, Ong boarded the Truck and left the vicinity at about 2.36pm. DCSC Tung and CCO Tan, and their teams immediately began trailing the Truck in their vehicles5.
At about 3.20pm, DCSC Tung spotted Ong driving the Truck into the carpark at Block 251. However, he saw the Truck leaving the carpark immediately after making a round, and proceeding towards the direction of Block 260 Jurong East Street 24 (“Block 260”). At the same time, DCSC Tung spotted the Accused standing at the foot of Block 2606 and looking in the direction of the Truck. DCSC Tung then instructed CCO Tan and HCO Loh to “keep observation of” the Accused7. As for Ong, he was seen driving the Truck into the carpark at Block 263 Jurong East Street 24.
DCSC Tung saw Ong returning to the carpark at Block 251 in the Truck at about 3.25pm, and driving to the end of the carpark. At the same time, the Accused was observed to be talking on his mobile phone and looking in the direction of the Truck8.
About five minutes later, Ong alighted from the Truck. He walked towards the carpark gantry where he met the Accused. At that juncture, the Customs officers moved in and detained the Accused and Ong9.
The Accused was detained by CCO Tan and HCO Loh, and interviewed by CCO Tan10. CCO Tan spoke to the Accused in Mandarin and asked the Accused what he was doing in the vicinity. The Accused told CCO Tan that he was waiting to “buy cigarettes” and pointed at Ong11. CCO Tan understood the Accused to mean that he was intending to buy cigarettes from Ong. CCO Tan then sought instructions from CCO SG1 Tan and was instructed to place the Accused under arrest.
After the Accused was arrested, HCO Loh proceeded to record a statement from him at 3.55pm inside Customs vehicle QX1351C, at the carpark of Block 250 Jurong East Street 24. The Accused gave his statement12 in Mandarin, which was then recorded by HCO Loh in English. The Accused informed HCO Loh that he came to know Ong about four months ago and had purchased cigarettes from Ong on a few occasions. On the day in question, he had gone to the location to purchase cigarettes from Ong. He was aware that the cigarettes were duty-unpaid, and paid Ong $44.00 per carton of duty-unpaid cigarettes.
After the recording of the Accused’s statement (P6), the Accused was escorted by CCO Tan and his team to the Accused’s flat at #09-353 Block 258 Jurong East Street 24. They did not find anything incriminating in the flat and left the flat with the Accused at about 4.40pm for the COC. They arrived at the COC at about 5.10pm13.
On the same day at about 4.00pm, Higher Customs Officer Yong Chin Fang (“HCO Yong”) (PW7) arrived at the scene and took over the items found in the rear compartment of the Truck. She arranged for a tow truck to tow the Truck to the COC and proceeded to check the canvas bags in the Truck. She found a total of 13 canvas bags and 19 cardboard boxes containing duty-unpaid cigarettes. She ensured that all the doors of the Truck were secured and locked, before the Truck was towed to the COC14. The Truck arrived at the COC at 5.55pm.
Upon arrival at the COC, HCO Yong and her team unloaded the seized items from the Truck. At about 7.40pm, the seized items were verified by HCO Yong and her team in the presence of the Accused and Ong15. The seized items comprised 796 cartons x 200 sticks, 40 packets x 20 sticks and 300 cartons x 160 sticks of duty-unpaid cigarettes16 (“the seized cigarettes”).
The evidence of OngOng testified that he came to know the Accused, through friends, about two to three years prior to March 201817. They became friends18, and he addressed the Accused as “Uncle Quek”19. Ong further testified that he was introduced to the Accused for the purpose of dealing with duty-unpaid cigarettes20.
Sometime after Ong came to know the Accused, the Accused passed Ong’s number to “Boss” or “Lao Ban” (“Boss”) and introduced Ong to Boss21. Thereafter, Boss would contact Ong and give him “jobs”, in that Boss would give instructions to Ong on the collection and delivery of “goods”22.
On the day in question, Ong had gone to Changi South to collect the seized cigarettes. He was to bring the seized cigarettes to Block 251 to “wait for customers” to collect them. Along the way, he received a call from Boss, informing him that he was being tailed by Customs officers23.
However, Ong continued driving and arrived at the carpark of Block 251. His purpose of going to Block 251 was to wait for customers to collect the seized cigarettes and to meet the Accused. Ong further testified that the Accused’s role was to ask customers to collect duty-unpaid cigarettes that Ong had picked up at Changi South, and to collect money from these customers for the said cigarettes24. While Ong was able to recognise these customers, he did not know their names. After distributing the cigarettes to the customers at Block 251, the Accused would then instruct Ong on where to send the remaining cigarettes25. Ong also testified that, after collecting duty-unpaid cigarettes from “Boss” each time, he would report to the Accused26.
In addition to taking instructions from the Accused relating to the distribution and delivery of duty-unpaid cigarettes, it was Ong’s evidence that the Accused gave him money for the rental of the Truck for the conveyance of duty-unpaid cigarettes27. The Accused would pay Ong $25.00 for every cardboard box of cigarettes delivered28. Each cardboard box contained 50 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes29.
Ong gave evidence that he was arrested with the Accused by Customs officers at Block 25130. He was subsequently brought back to...
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