Sister of Maserati driver who dragged S'pore traffic police officer asks for car to be returned

She said the car's proceeds will be used to repay loans and support his family.

Ruth Chai | January 27, 2023, 12:15 PM

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The sister of Maserati driver Lee Cheng Yan, 39, who is due to hand over his car to the state after repeated offences, pleaded with the court on Jan. 25, to have the vehicle returned to the family.

She revealed that she and her elderly parents were not only paying for Lee's legal fees, but were also supporting Lee's twin daughters in Japan, with the understanding that they would be repaid with the car's proceeds.

Lee, 39, is currently serving a sentence of six years and eight months, and has received two lifetime driving bans -- one for dragging a police officer trapped in his Maserati car's door along the road, and another for driving related offences whilst under a driving ban.

According to the Road Traffic Act, if a repeat offender uses a vehicle he owns to commit certain offences, the public prosecutor can apply for the vehicle to be forfeited under certain circumstances and the court must order it.

"Our lives have been most badly affected": Sister

Lee's sister addressed the court to plead for the car to be returned.

She said she and her family did not condone her brother's wrongdoings, CNA reported.

"In fact, as family members, our lives have been the most badly affected by his irresponsible actions," she said.

She explained that she and her mother had to support Lee's daughters in Japan.

In addition, her eldest brother was unable to care for himself due to his intellectual disability.

Lee had taken large loans from his family to pay for his "very hefty legal fees", CNA reported.

"That was with the understanding that he wishes to pay them the moment the car is released. In other words, what he did is pledge the car to repay the loans he had taken from his parents," she said in court.

Lee's sister further explained that her parents were at their wit's end financially as they had funded Lee's expenses.

Her father had taken a loan from his only life insurance, and was unable to repay the loan to date.

Her mother had pawned all of her jewellery.

However, Lee's sister argued that since Lee has pledged the proceeds of the vehicle to their parents in order to return the loans he had taken, this makes their parents the "de facto" owner of the vehicle.

District Judge Kamala Ponnampalam did not view it as such, CNA reported.

"I fail to see the correlation between personal loans given by your parents to your brother to help him out, and this vehicle, I'm not sure what its market value is, or how much we can obtain for it," said the judge.

The forfeiture hearing was adjourned to Feb. 27.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Timotheus Koh asked for the case to be adjourned for four weeks for Lee's family to prepare any submissions, and for the prosecution to perform checks on whether any credit companies are linked to the purchase of the Maserati.

Previously asked for a shorter jail term and his Maserati returned

On Jan. 18, Lee had asked for some of his sentences to run concurrently, in a bit to shorten his jail term.

He had also asked for his Maserati to be returned, as he wanted to sell it in order to provide for his daughters, CNA reported.

Lee had also asked the court to reduce his sentence.

However, the prosecutor explained that Lee had not mounted an appeal for a lower sentence.

The proceedings were also delayed by nine months, which Lee could not provide sufficient reason for.

Lee claimed he was not aware of the timelines provided by the authorities, an excuse which DPP Koh dismissed as he had successfully appealed against his first sentence, demonstrating Lee's sufficient knowledge of the proceeding's timeline.

Lee also said he was inhibited from making an appeal due to Covid-19 isolation.

DPP Koh said Lee had told police officers that he did not intend to appeal, a decision that he went back on.

Justice Aedit Abdullah remarked that Lee seemed to be shirking his responsibility, and that Lee neither seemed remorseful nor understood the seriousness of his actions, CNA reported

He told Lee that he should have been grateful that his sentence was not at the maximum, instead of asking for a shorter sentence.

Top photo via Singapore Police Force & WhatsApp