S'porean man extorts over S$1,000 from friend, threatens to kill him, gets over 2 years' jail & caning

A 34-year-old Singaporean man was sentenced to two years, three months and 20 days' jail after he extorted over S$1,000 from his friend.

Shin Min Daily News reported that Low Tze Wee, Jaymeson, who was also sentenced to two strokes of the cane and a S$130 fine, confronted his friend after hearing he allegedly talked behind his back.

Charges

Low then threatened to knock out his teeth, burn his house down and kill him.

Charge sheets seen by Mothership stated that he pleaded guilty to one count of extortion and another charge under the Gambling Control Act 2022.

Another charge under the Computer Misuse Act was taken into consideration during sentencing.

What happened

Charge sheets stated that on seven occasions between Aug. 16, 2025, and Sep. 27, 2025, Low intentionally put his friend in fear of harm to his body and property.

He did so by threatening to find his friend, knock out all his teeth, kill him and burn his house down, as well as dishonestly inducing his friend to give him a total of S$1,090.

Shin Min reported that on the evening of Aug. 6, 2025, Low heard that his 37-year-old friend had allegedly been talking behind his back.

The same evening, he texted his friend to question him about this, but his friend reportedly denied it.

His friend then approached Low 10 days later in an attempt to explain himself, but Low allegedly told him to choose between getting his teeth knocked out, where he would require dentures, or transfer Low S$3,690.

Extortion

Shin Min reported that Low apparently changed his mind and demanded S$690 after his friend claimed he did not have that much money.

After Low sent him a series of threatening messages, his friend supposedly sent him S$369 that evening.

However, Low continued to intimidate his friend, where he threatened to burn down his house and kill him if he did not receive the money.

His friend then transferred him S$1,090 and made a police report on Oct. 3, 2025.

Computer Misuse Act

On Sep. 7, 2025, Low allegedly aided another individual to knowingly cause the computer of a bank to perform a function for the purpose of securing access.

Charge sheets stated that he did so by obtaining the account's username and password from the individual, where he did not have authority to the banking system.

Low was also not authorised to access the bank account.

Gambling Control Act

Separately, on Apr. 29, 2026, Low managed an unlawful gambling place by receiving payment from punters and topping up their online gambling accounts with the equivalent value.

Charge sheets stated that this was done in accordance with arrangements made by unknown persons, to facilitate the punters to play a game of chance for a prize.

Penalties

According to Section 384 of the Penal Code 1871, whoever commits extortion shall be punished with jail for a term of not less than two years and not more than seven years and with caning.

Under Section 24 of the Gambling Control Act 2022, a person convicted of organising or managing, or assisting in organising or managing, any unlawful gambling place, is liable to the following.

This includes a fine not exceeding S$200,000 and the person shall also be punished with jail for a term not exceeding five years.

If the person convicted is a repeat offender, they shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding S$300,000 and shall also be punished with jail for a term not exceeding seven years.