Jail instead of fine for man who impersonated CNB officer
Photo: Reuters
SINGAPORE — A man who took up a friend’s idea to impersonate narcotics officers and steal cigarettes had his sentence raised to a jail term on Wednesday (June 28), after prosecutors successfully challenged that he got off lightly compared with his accomplice.
Although their ploy eventually failed, High Court Judge See Keep Oon ruled that the culprits had backed off out of self-preservation, and not remorse, after the victims called the police. A short custodial sentence was warranted, he added, as a deterrent for those thinking of posing as public servants to commit crimes.
Muhammad Taufiq Djumadi, 28, was fined S$7,000 after he claimed trial to one charge of having the common intention to pretend to be a public servant with two others on the morning of May 4, 2014. The mastermind of the scheme, Muhammad Farmi Sudin, was sentenced to 10 weeks’ jail and their co-accused Eunice Ng was given a stern warning for her involvement.
The trio were at a chalet at East Coast Park that day and headed out to buy cigarette. However, the shops were closed and they chanced upon a group of four people at a barbecue pit on their way back. Farmi said that he wanted to get cigarettes from them and led the rest in approaching the group as undercover Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers.
Among other things, they searched the victims’ belongings and at one point, Farmi slapped one of the four. Taufiq separated them and the trio left the scene empty-handed.
Arguing that Taufiq deserved to be put behind bars, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Wong Kok Weng noted that Taufiq had asked for the victims’ particulars, falsely stating that Farmi was his supervisor, and threatened that they would have to do urine tests.
“From the evidence of their conduct throughout the incident, (Taufiq) and his accomplices were clearly emboldened by each other’s participation, and actively sought as a group to improvise and complement each other in acting out and persisting in their deceit,” DPP Wong said.
The prosecutor argued that that district judge who gave the initial sentence also had not adequately considered that deterring others from similar crimes was important, meting out just a fine to Taufiq. “Imposters cannot simply assume the colour of such officers, misuse coercive powers (that they do not possess) for their own ends, and expect to get away with a mere slap on the wrist,” he added.
While Farmi had taken the lead in approaching the victims among other things, the prosecutor said that Taufiq’s role in the offence was not so different from Farmi to justify the “huge disparity” in sentences imposed on them.
In allowing the appeal yesterday, Justice See Kee Oon agreed that the disparity in sentence was glaring and noted that a short custodial term was needed to emphasise the need for deterrence.
Justice See ruled that insufficient weight was given to the aggravating factors in this case. There was also no basis for the district judge to conclude that he could not find their motive to commit theft or extortion, he added.
“Ultimately there was nothing innocuous about the act and no compelling reason why a fine would be appropriate,” he said.
