On Oct. 30, 2020, a man in Singapore who worked as a steersman ferried his brother and an acquaintance into Singapore's territorial waters off of St. John's Island, where they then jumped into an Indonesian boat which brought them to Batam.

On Friday (Jan. 8), 36-year-old Arman Mahmood was sentenced to jail for seven months and fined S$6,000 for crimes under the Immigration Act and Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore Regulations, according to CNA.

Brother and acquaintance wanted to enter Batam

CNA reported that Arman was asked by his brother, 29-year-old Muhammad Aqib Mahmood, and an acquaintance, 43-year-old Mohamad Sodikin Ritban, for help going to Batam, when they were having lunch together at a coffeeshop in September 2020.

The two men wanted to enter Batam in order to visit their families in Indonesia. However, due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, they were unable to do so.

CNA reported that Arman knew that Aqib has a family in a village in Batam, although he is not legally married in Indonesia, and had been travelling frequently between Singapore and Batam before Covid-19 hit.

Aqib and Sodikin thus asked Arman, who worked as a steersman transporting goods for a company, to help take them to Singapore waters, where they would then hop onto a foreign boat that would take them to Batam, reported CNA.

Dropped the men off on an Indonesian boat

Early in the morning on Oct. 30, 2020, Arman brought Aqib and Sodikin on his boat from Marina South Pier to a location southeast of St. John's Island.

CNA reported that Arman turned off his transponder, a wireless communications device that automatically responds to an incoming signal, in order to avoid being detected by the Police Coast Guard.

Around 1:20am, a boat from Indonesia pulled up beside Arman's boat, according to CNA. His brother and Sodikin then hopped onto the boat, which departed for Batam.

The Police Coast Guard detected an unknown vessel in the water, and Arman was arrested shortly afterward.

'I just wanted to help'

In court on Friday (Jan. 8), Arman said through an interpreter that he knew that he was wrong, and that he had tried to explain it to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), reported CNA:

"I did not do this for the money, I just wanted to help. I know what I did was wrong."

He reportedly asked for a second chance, adding that he hoped to not be imprisoned for too long and that he has a sick wife in Johor Bahru.

Under the Immigration Act, anyone who assists someone to leave Singapore by an unauthorised departure point can be jailed between six months and two years, and fined up to S$6,000.

Arman also could have been fined up to S$20,000 under the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore Regulations for turning off the transponder of his boat.

CNA reported that Aqib and Sodikin were both arrested upon returning to Singapore. Aqib was given two months' jail in Dec. 2020, and Sodikin is currently in remand, pending his court case.

Sodikin was also reportedly arrested upon returning to Singapore, and is currently in remand. His court case is pending.

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