Man 'fined' by fake Customs officers
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The price was too good to be true, but others were buying them, so Mr Tan Kim Ching, 46, went ahead and bought a pack of cigarettes for $5 from a peddler in a Geylang alley at about 10am last Sunday.
But the Malaysian, who works in a construction and engineering firm, ended up paying a heftier price than he expected.
"I saw other foreign workers buying the cigarettes, so I gave them a try but, almost immediately, someone tapped me from behind and asked me to hand the pack over," he told my paper last week.
He was accosted by three men in plain clothes, who claimed to be Singapore Customs officers.
Mr Tan said the men did not show him any identification. Neither did he ask them for it.
Mr Tan was bundled into an unmarked car and was driven for 30 minutes until they reached an apartment block. He was interrogated at a unit there for about 15 minutes.
"I didn't know where I was taken as I am not familiar with the roads here. But when I got to the living room of that unit, there were about 10 other workers who seemed to be there for the same reason," said Mr Tan, who has been working here for less than a month.
He added that the "officers", who looked to be in their 20s, were well-dressed in longsleeved shirts, and carried walkie-talkies.
They took his work permit and passport, and said that he would have to pay a $5,000 "fine" to escape jail and get his documents back.
The figure was eventually reduced to $1,500, and Mr Tan was told to meet the men at Ang Mo Kio MRT station later that day, at about 3pm.
He managed to get $1,200 from his boss and handed the money to one of the men in exchange for his personal documents.
He was not issued an official receipt and the men left on foot immediately after receiving the money.
When contacted, a spokesman for Singapore Customs said it did not conduct any enforcement operations in Geylang that day.
The spokesman said: "When approaching members of the public, our officers will identify themselves as Singapore Customs officers. They will also produce their warrant cards."
my paper understands that a summons slip is typically issued to those caught with contraband cigarettes. Customs officers do not collect money on the spot as the court decides the fine amount.
Mr Tan said: "The money is already gone. I hope other foreign workers will learn from my mistake, and not trust anyone without seeing proper identification first."
http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20120402-337079.html -
pwned
got name, got incident of where smuggled cig were bought...
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this Mr Tan got cheated by fake custom officers...
and now he sexpose himself, so need to pay fines to real custom officers for buying contraband ciggies???
double pawned? -
i think the customs officer in this situation would want to catch those frauds rather than the ciggies buyers... when the pond got big fish, you want to get the big fish, not the ikan bilies..
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in this instance he becomes 污点�人
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这�
�鸡��，失把米。。。。。。
赔了夫人，�折兵。。。。。。
this is Singapore leh ........ where got cheap and good thing 1 leh.....
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Originally posted by Hwaimeng:
这�
�鸡��，失把米。。。。。。
赔了夫人，�折兵。。。。。。
this is Singapore leh ........ where got cheap and good thing 1 leh.....
can explain the 2 sentence??? -
Originally posted by ^Acid^ aka s|aO^eH~:
can explain the 2 sentence???
both has about the same meaning. it means you lose instead of gaining an advantage -
Originally posted by dragg:
both has about the same meaning. it means you lose instead of gaining an advantage
roughly I understand. but is there a story behind it?like de "Sai Wong Si Ma" aka Sai Wong lose a horse, but gain from his loss...
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Originally posted by ^Acid^ aka s|aO^eH~:
can explain the 2 sentence???what race are you?
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Originally posted by NG QIBO AARON AUBREY:
what race are you?
you racist! i chinese but i also dun understand. i failed my chinese in exams T.T
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chio kap peng arh!
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Originally posted by ^Acid^ aka s|aO^eH~:
roughly I understand. but is there a story behind it?like de "Sai Wong Si Ma" aka Sai Wong lose a horse, but gain from his loss...
still wan me to explain bo...??? -
Originally posted by Hwaimeng:
still wan me to explain bo...???
Ehhh, I understand...Just tat I'm curious how does the idiom/phrase comes about...
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都没有什么大