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18-02-2011, 06:25 AM
This is one really sad case....... 
He had such a bright future earning $5,000 a month but blew it all away on gambling.
Feb 18, 2011
Ex-captain gets jail, cane for loan-shark acts
He had agreed to act as runner in order to clear his own casino debt
By Khushwant Singh & Tham Yuen-C
WHEN army captain Kheng Kok Keong went to the casino at Resorts World Sentosa last year, that first visit got him hooked and he returned again and again.
In the next few months, he went on to lose a small fortune exceeding 'five figures' and, later, his family when his wife left with their two children.
Yesterday, he also lost his freedom.
A judge at the Subordinate Court jailed him for two years and ordered him to be caned 12 times for working as a loan-shark runner to clear his own debts.
Kheng, 34, had pleaded guilty on Monday to four charges of harassment. Seventeen other charges were taken into consideration by the judge in sentencing.
Speaking to The Straits Times yesterday before court proceedings, Kheng said: 'I went to the casino to check out the place out of curiosity but things started (to get out of control) from there and I just couldn't stop.'
After losing $30,000 at roulette, he turned to unlicensed moneylenders. When he could not repay the loans, he was roped in by a creditor - known only as Ah Seng - to harass other debtors.
His jail term was backdated to Oct 16. He had been held in remand after he was arrested at Block 103, Commonwealth Crescent. That night, he had vandalised an eighth-floor unit. He was caught by his victim when he returned to retrieve a pack of cigarettes he had left behind.
By then, he had been on the 'job' for four months. From last June, he hadvandalised homes by splashing paint on doors, injecting glue into padlocks and keyholes, and scrawling messages on walls.
According to court documents, he vandalised 21 flats in September and October last year, mainly in Clementi, Commonwealth Crescent, Redhill and Toa Payoh.
Whenever he received an assignment, he would leave his Yishun Avenue 6 flat with his gear of black paint, black permanent marker, superglue and ski mask which he wore to obscure his face.
'Since I borrowed money, and they offered me this option, I just did it,' he said of his decision to be a loan-shark runner. 'I wasn't scared, I just thought that was the only way to repay the amount.'
He earned $2,000 each month for his efforts, all of which went towards paying off his debts.
Before he turned to Ah Seng, he had borrowed smaller sums from friends. But each time, he would go back to the casino hoping to recoup what he had lost. That was how his losses snowballed, he said.
After his arrest, his creditors besieged his flat and threw black paint on the gates, as he had done to his victims. To avoid the harassment, his wife returned to her native Taiwan, taking along their children aged five and seven.
Asked if he regretted his actions, Kheng fell silent. 'I have lost contact with her,' he said of his wife.
His parents, who were not at the sentencing, had also become estranged from him. They heard about Kheng's sentence through his lawyer G. Dinagaran who said: 'They said they feel very depressed about the whole situation.'
Before his run-in with the law, Kheng was working as a logistics officer in the Singapore Armed Forces, drawing a monthly salary of $5,000. In his 14 years with the army, he had also served as a peacekeeper in Timor Leste.
He was sacked after he was charged.
His neighbour, who did not want to be named, said he had seen Kheng walk by in his army uniform before his arrest. 'I've seen him taking his children to school. He does not say much; his wife is more friendly, at least she smiles. But I don't see her around any more.'
Anyone convicted of harassment can be jailed for up to five years and fined between $5,000 and $50,000 on each charge. If property is damaged, they will be given three to six strokes of the cane.
khush@sph.com.sg
yuenc@sph.com.sg
He had such a bright future earning $5,000 a month but blew it all away on gambling.Feb 18, 2011
Ex-captain gets jail, cane for loan-shark acts
He had agreed to act as runner in order to clear his own casino debt
By Khushwant Singh & Tham Yuen-C
WHEN army captain Kheng Kok Keong went to the casino at Resorts World Sentosa last year, that first visit got him hooked and he returned again and again.
In the next few months, he went on to lose a small fortune exceeding 'five figures' and, later, his family when his wife left with their two children.
Yesterday, he also lost his freedom.
A judge at the Subordinate Court jailed him for two years and ordered him to be caned 12 times for working as a loan-shark runner to clear his own debts.
Kheng, 34, had pleaded guilty on Monday to four charges of harassment. Seventeen other charges were taken into consideration by the judge in sentencing.
Speaking to The Straits Times yesterday before court proceedings, Kheng said: 'I went to the casino to check out the place out of curiosity but things started (to get out of control) from there and I just couldn't stop.'
After losing $30,000 at roulette, he turned to unlicensed moneylenders. When he could not repay the loans, he was roped in by a creditor - known only as Ah Seng - to harass other debtors.
His jail term was backdated to Oct 16. He had been held in remand after he was arrested at Block 103, Commonwealth Crescent. That night, he had vandalised an eighth-floor unit. He was caught by his victim when he returned to retrieve a pack of cigarettes he had left behind.
By then, he had been on the 'job' for four months. From last June, he hadvandalised homes by splashing paint on doors, injecting glue into padlocks and keyholes, and scrawling messages on walls.
According to court documents, he vandalised 21 flats in September and October last year, mainly in Clementi, Commonwealth Crescent, Redhill and Toa Payoh.
Whenever he received an assignment, he would leave his Yishun Avenue 6 flat with his gear of black paint, black permanent marker, superglue and ski mask which he wore to obscure his face.
'Since I borrowed money, and they offered me this option, I just did it,' he said of his decision to be a loan-shark runner. 'I wasn't scared, I just thought that was the only way to repay the amount.'
He earned $2,000 each month for his efforts, all of which went towards paying off his debts.
Before he turned to Ah Seng, he had borrowed smaller sums from friends. But each time, he would go back to the casino hoping to recoup what he had lost. That was how his losses snowballed, he said.
After his arrest, his creditors besieged his flat and threw black paint on the gates, as he had done to his victims. To avoid the harassment, his wife returned to her native Taiwan, taking along their children aged five and seven.
Asked if he regretted his actions, Kheng fell silent. 'I have lost contact with her,' he said of his wife.
His parents, who were not at the sentencing, had also become estranged from him. They heard about Kheng's sentence through his lawyer G. Dinagaran who said: 'They said they feel very depressed about the whole situation.'
Before his run-in with the law, Kheng was working as a logistics officer in the Singapore Armed Forces, drawing a monthly salary of $5,000. In his 14 years with the army, he had also served as a peacekeeper in Timor Leste.
He was sacked after he was charged.
His neighbour, who did not want to be named, said he had seen Kheng walk by in his army uniform before his arrest. 'I've seen him taking his children to school. He does not say much; his wife is more friendly, at least she smiles. But I don't see her around any more.'
Anyone convicted of harassment can be jailed for up to five years and fined between $5,000 and $50,000 on each charge. If property is damaged, they will be given three to six strokes of the cane.
khush@sph.com.sg
yuenc@sph.com.sg
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