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As news about a Bentley driver who forcefully nudged a security guard backwards with his car began making its rounds online, some netizens got to work trying to identify the driver.
Unfortunately for one Neo Tiam Ting, netizens wrongly identified him as the Bentley driver in question.
Neo has since lodged a police report against these allegations.
Neo "aggrieved" by accusations
In a Facebook post he uploaded on Jan. 13, Neo said that he was alerted that there were "multiple Facebook postings and WhatsApp messages" wrongly linking him with the Red Swastika School incident.
He denied all connections to the incident or the driver:
"I wish to state categorically that I have nothing to do with the incident. I was not the driver. The vehicle does not belong to me."
He added that he was "aggrieved by these baseless allegations made in social media".
Neo said that he has since made a police report against them, and further noted that "at least some" of the inaccurate posts have been taken down from Facebook.
Bombarded with calls and messages
In an interview with The Straits Times (ST), Neo said that he has received about 200 calls and messages asking if was really the Bentley driver in the Red Swastika School incident.
According to ST, Neo, who is 51, is the director of car dealership ThinkOne. He said that his businesses and other organisations that he is affiliated with have also been dragged by the internet mob.
For the record, he also told ST that he drives a Toyota Alphard.
While Neo said that he could "take the stress" of the wrongful witch hunt, he worries about his family and businesses.
He told ST that his teenage children were upset that people were targeting their father.
He said that if the people behind the false accusations were "really mistaken", he hopes that they would come forward to apologise.
But if the false allegations were made intentionally to hurt him or his reputation, Neo said that he "will have to sue".
MP Sim Ann comes to Neo's defence
It was also revealed that Neo had been a grassroots volunteer at Bukit Timah since 2008.
Senior Minister of State Sim Ann, who is also a Member of Parliament at Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, put up a Facebook post on Jan. 13, saying that allegations that Neo was "the Bentley guy" was "completely untrue".
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Top photos via Mothership reader and ThinkOne Group