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Lee Cheng Yan, 39, the driver who dragged a traffic police officer with his car, is due to hand the vehicle over to the state.

Lee is currently serving six years and eight months in jail, 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.

The accused's sister previously requested for the car to be returned in order to be sold to repay loans and support Lee's two daughters in Japan.

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.

"I think we all want to move on with our life": Sister

On Monday, Feb. 27, Lee's sister stated that she wanted the case to be resolved.

She reiterated that the incident took place nearly six years ago.

"I think we all want to move on with our life," she said.

She previously told the court that while she did not condone her brother's wrongdoings, the car should be returned to the family since her brother pledged the car to their parents to repay the loans he had taken from them.

Lee's sister explained that her parents were at their wit's end financially as they had funded Lee's expenses, including raising Lee's two daughters in Japan and paying for his legal fees.

The family's finances were also stretched thin.

Their father had taken a loan from his only life insurance, and was unable to repay the loan to date, while their mother had pawned all of her jewellery.

Lee's sister said "most people in Singapore won't be aware that life is extremely harsh" for such families.

Forfeiture criteria met

However, in response to her plea, Deputy Public Prosecutor Timotheus Koh said the conditions for the forfeiture of the vehicle have been fulfilled under the Road Traffic Act's relevant provision.

According the act, the only instances where a court is not to make a forfeiture order as sought by the prosecution are when the offender is not the vehicle owner, or if the offender used the vehicle without the consent of the real owner.

As Lee is still the registered owner of the vehicle, this criteria has been met.

Although Lee's sister stated that their parents are still the "de facto" owners of the car, the alleged transfer of ownership occurred after the offence in an attempt to try to return the car to the family.

Top photo via Alex Lee and Facebook