S'pore man tells convicted Ferrari woman driver to pay him S$2,000 as he can secure favours for her in jail

He pleaded guilty to a corruption charge, along with various other charges.

Nigel Chua | January 12, 2022, 09:44 AM

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Francis Ng Wee Keng, a 48-year old male Singaporean, had a slew of charges brought against him in court for various offences committed between October 2018 and January 2020.

One of Ng's alleged offences was committing corruption in October 2018.

According to court documents seen by Mothership, Ng had reached out to a woman, Shi Ka Yee, who had been convicted of various criminal offences after reading about her case in mid-2018.

Shi was sentenced to four weeks' imprisonment in March 2018 for punching a motorist in 2014 for refusing to let her car pass.

She was also sentenced to another two weeks imprisonment for three other offences, including taking the keys to a crane above her garden, driving away with them, and leaving a worker stranded in mid-air in the crane's bucket, The Straits Times (ST) reported in 2018.

She came to be known as the "Ferrari woman", after the brand of car that she was driving while committing these offences.

Naturally, her case was widely published by local newspapers.

Ng, who was serving time in jail, came across the news of her offences, and the criminal proceedings against her.

Ng offered to get prison officers to "look out" for Shi

Intrigued by the woman, Ng reached out to Shi sometime in early October 2018 after he got out of prison, and arranged to meet her at Marriott Hotel, though court documents did not state how Ng managed to contact Shi.

He told her that he knew prison officers who could "look out" for her in prison, as he had previously been remanded.

Ng and Shi exchanged contact numbers.

Ng did not actually know any prison officer who could help Shi.

Nonetheless, he proceeded to update her about the "favours" he had done, telling her that he had called and spoken to the Commissioner of Prison about her case, and that he had arranged for her to meet two senior female prison officers.

He later admitted to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) that these updates, sent between Oct. 8 and 17, were in fact lies.

Then, on Oct. 17 and 18, Ng sent WhatsApp messages to Shi asking for money, so that he could entertain prison officers and build rapport with them, so that he could get their help to ease Shi's time in prison.

He claimed that the officers would be able to let Shi keep her hair long and not get bullied by other inmates.

On Oct. 19, Shi and Ng met again, and Shi passed him S$2,000 in cash in an envelope.

Ng then spent the money on his daily expenses.

He admitted to CPIB that he had requested money from Shi as he needed it for his use.

The CPIB came to learn of his offence on Oct. 28, 2018, when they "received information" about the matter, court documents stated.

The source of the information was not revealed.

According to ST, Ng pleaded guilty to the corruption charge — along with several other charges — on Jan. 6, 2022.

Ng's other offences

Besides the corruption charge, Ng faced 11 other charges under the Road Traffic Act, the Penal Code, and the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act.

The prosecution opted to proceed on six charges, while the other six will be taken into consideration for Ng's sentencing.

Ng's other offences include:

  • Driving a motorcar on Dec. 30, 2018 while under a lifetime disqualification that took effect in July 2018, and without valid insurance.
  • Driving a motorcar on Jun. 25, 2019, having taken it without the consent of its owner or any lawful authority.
  • Trespassing into a residential unit along Jalan Sultan on Dec. 15, 2019 and stealing S$650 in cash from the wallet of a resident, who worked as a GrabFood delivery rider.
  • Being in fraudulent possession of a branded handbag, a pair of shoes, and various articles of jewellery, which were suspected to be stolen. Ng was unable to account satisfactorily for how he came by the items.

He faces maximum fines ranging from S$1,000 to S$100,000, and maximum imprisonment terms ranging from a year to 10 years, for his various offences.

As some of the offences were committed in breach of a remission order, he faces additional jail time as well.

Ng's sentencing has been scheduled for Jan. 18.

Top image by Julia Yeo

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