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Lee Cheng Yan, the Maserati driver who dragged a police officer for over 100m in a 2017 incident, has been handed a lifetime driving ban for the second time, after being convicted of more crimes under outstanding charges.
Lee appeared in court to face 15 charges for various offences, including offences under the Road Traffic Act and Police Force Act.
Sped away from police roadblock
In an incident on Mar. 12, 2021, Lee was driving a car — described in a police report as a grey Mercedes — at around 3:59am along Macpherson Road.
At the time, Lee was on bail, pending appeal on Mar. 19, 2021.
Lee was accompanied by a female passenger known only as "Joy", who had gone drinking with him in the Lavender area in the evening of Mar. 11, 2021.
He was stopped by police offers operating a roadblock, and failed a routine breathalyser test.
When an officer signalled for the roadblock to be closed, and requested for Lee's personal details, he drove off suddenly, manoeuvring the car through the barricade and speeding off.
Two police officers then pursued Lee on motorcycles.
The chase saw Lee driving past two red lights, and at speeds of up to 140km/h.
Lee managed to evade the pursuing officers by taking an abrupt turn onto Tai Seng Avenue. He then abandoned the car at the carpark of Tai Seng Industrial Estate.
However, he was caught fleeing the scene on CCTV footage, and apprehended three days later on Mar. 15, 2021 after a police manhunt.
He was thus charged with evasion of roadblock, dangerous driving, and driving whilst under disqualification.
Drove under disqualification on two other occasions
In another two incidents on Feb. 13, 2021 and Mar. 1, 2021, Lee was caught on CCTV footage driving a BMW rented by a friend, also while he was under disqualification.
At the time of all three incidents, Lee was on bail pending appeal for his previous convictions.
However, he had already been disqualified from holding all classes of driving licenses for life since Jul. 28, 2020, following his most recent conviction on Dec. 4, 2019.
He had also acknowledged his lifetime disqualification in court on Jul. 28, 2020.
Lee was thus charged with a total of three counts of driving when under disqualification.
Other offences
Lee also faced a slew of other charges arising from offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act, the Remote Gambling Act, and the Protection from Harassment Act.
Some of these offences had come to light because of Lee's driving-related offences in 2017.
Court documents revealed that police found had betting messages in Lee's phone in 2017, having seized it after his hit-and-run case. Investigations revealed that Lee was both an agent and a punter for online soccer betting and online lottery.
His friends also placed bets with him through online betting accounts and through messages.
Lee also faced corruption-related charges, and charges under the Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act, for offences in 2017.
Lee had offered to obtain subscribers' addresses based on their phone numbers, for a fee of S$350 per number. One Lim Zong Xian, Philbert, a 34-year-old male Singaporean, took up the offer.
Lim asked Lee to obtain three person's addresses between Jan. and Apr. 2017, providing Lee with their phone numbers, and a sum of S$1,000. Lim wanted their addresses to recover the money they purportedly owed.
Lee then approached one of his contacts, Foo Cheek Ann, Kelvin, a Retail Consultant at a Singtel Shop, to access customer information, paying him S$20 for each number he checked.
Court documents stated that Lee requested Foo to access Singtel's system to provide particulars of Singtel's subscribers on a total of 15 occasions, including in 2016.
The subscribers then reported getting harassed with calls, text messages, and people showing up at their houses.
Sentenced to more jail time, second lifetime ban
Lee was prosecuted for 15 charges in total.
He pleaded guilty to the charges on Jan. 27, CNA reported.
54 other charges—including charges for using vehicles without insurance coverage —were taken into consideration for Lee's sentencing.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Senthilkumaran Sabapathy called Lee "a recalcitrant and persistent offender," saying that his offences relating to driving whilst under disqualification showed "complete disregard for the law" and called for a lengthy jail sentence.
Regarding his other offences, Senthilkumaran pointed to "the sheer multiplicity and variety of the accused’s offences" and called for sentencing to take into account the need for deterrence and retribution.
CNA reported that Lee was sentenced to 21 months and 16 weeks' jail, on top of the existing sentence he is currently serving for his previous convictions.
He was also fined S$1,000 and given a lifetime driving ban.
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