Ex-SAF captain vaped & cheated colleagues of nearly S$87,000, jailed 21 months & 2 weeks

A former captain in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) was jailed for 21 months and two weeks on Jul. 29 after he admitted to vaping and cheating five colleagues of almost S$87,000.

Charge sheets and court documents seen by Mothership stated that Benjamin Song Yong Pang was also fined S$6,000.

He pleaded guilty to nine charges, five of which were cheating charges and four were vape-related charges, which includes possession of vaping devices.

There were 17 charges taken into consideration during sentencing.

Following the commencement of investigations, Song made full restitution to his victims, which include his subordinates.

Lied about mother's medical bills

Between 2011 and 2018, Song incurred significant amounts of credit card debt from patronising clubs and KTVs, though his exact debt amount was not stated in court documents.

At the time of his offences, he was an SAF captain, a deputy cluster commander at a supply base.

Earlier reports mentioned that Song was accused of cheating 16 people more than S$145,000 over three years. He was first charged for cheating in November 2025.

CPIB said that the offences happened over multiple occasions between May 23, 2021 and Mar. 26, 2024.

Charge sheets indicated that the sums given to Song by the victims ranged from S$1,000 to over S$27,000.

Court documents stated that he lied to five colleagues over more than 39 occasions between May 2021 and March 2024 that he would help to invest their money, or claimed that he needed money for his mother's medical bills.

His colleagues gave him a total of S$86,750 on separate occasions, with each being cheated of amounts between S$10,000 and S$27,050.

The five colleagues were cheated in chronological order 13 times, seven times, nine times, five times and fives times respectively.

In reality, Song used the money to service his debts.

Vapes

The Straits Times reported that Song, who began using e-vaporisers some time from late 2021, openly vaped in his Nee Soon Camp office.

In 2022 and 2023, he also had in his possession at the camp, 10 boxes of pods, and 15 pieces of disposable vaporisers at S$13 each over six occasions.

Such conduct resulted a culture of vaping being normalised among his subordinates, investigations revealed.

ST reported that Song leveraged his rank and recruited colleagues to order vapes and vape pods on his behalf.

According to the Health Sciences Authority, Song got three subordinates to procure and pass the vape products to him on multiple occasions.

One subordinate admitted to assisting Song out of fear of saying no to his superior officer.

Song was also found to have introduced a female colleague to vaping by giving her a vaping device and vape pods, ST reported.

Including his vape-related offences, he faced 26 charges in all.

Suspended, penalties

Mindef said in a Nov. 10, 2025 statement that Song was suspended from his duties following his arrest, and was no longer a regular serviceman with the SAF.

Mindef said that SAF holds its service personnel to high standards of discipline and integrity.

"We do not tolerate any form of cheating in the SAF. Service personnel who commit offences will be dealt with in accordance with the law," Mindef said.

Court documents stated that Song was arrested on Apr. 16, 2024, and released on agency bail on the same day.

His agency bail was then extended on Nov. 7, 2025, before his first mention on Nov. 10, 2025.

The prosecution sought a sentence of 21 to 23 months' jail for him.