SINGAPORE: A man agreed to help his friend blindfold and restrain another woman who owed her money.
Wu Zhibing, 36, helped to prepare a warehouse for this purpose by covering its closed-circuit television cameras (CCTVs) with cloth. He later aided in trussing up the 49-year-old victim with cable ties.
He then stood watch as his friend, Lin Mei, 42, questioned the victim for around five hours.
Wu, a Chinese national, was jailed for eight months on Wednesday (May 21) after he pleaded guilty to a charge of wrongfully confining the victim for the purpose of compelling the restoration of property.
A charge for remaining in Singapore unlawfully was taken into consideration for his sentencing. Lin's case is still pending before the courts.
Wu and Lin were housemates. On Feb 27 last year, Wu informed Lin that he wished to return to China as his work permit had expired.
Lin then told Wu that someone owed her S$25,000 (US$19,000) and offered him S$10,000 to S$20,800 if he helped her "teach that person a lesson".
The target in question was a Singaporean woman Lin knew through illegal gambling. The woman incurred this gambling debt in November 2023.
Wu agreed to help Lin carry out a scheme that involved luring the victim to a warehouse before handcuffing and blindfolding the woman to compel her to settle her debt.
In preparation, Wu went to the fourth level of a warehouse along Jalan Buroh at Lin's instruction and covered the CCTVs with cloth to prevent the incident from being recorded.
At about 2am the next day, Lin invited the victim to meet on the pretext of going to a golf course together. The victim agreed and met Lin at her residence.
Lin then drove the victim to the warehouse at about 3.30am and lied that there was money inside. She told the victim to look for the money with her, claiming that there was some in a suitcase.
While the victim was searching, Wu took her by surprise and covered her head with a black bag.
Lin and Wu proceeded to grab the victim by her head, throat and legs before pressing the struggling woman to the floor.
They then bound her hands and legs with plastic cable ties. The black bag was replaced with a blindfold and the woman was made to sit on a chair.
The woman was restrained in this manner from about 4am to 9am, during which Lin repeatedly asked her for money while Wu watched.
"Lin asked about the money the victim received from selling her house and the victim informed Lin that she sold her house for S$300,000," said the prosecution.
Hearing this, Lin said she would only release the victim if the victim gave her S$200,000, as Lin needed the money to repay a loanshark.
The victim said she did not have any money and claimed she was unable to pay Lin.
At about 5am, the victim asked Lin to call her friend. Lin asked this friend for S$50,000, but the person could only fork out S$30,000 at about 5pm.
After coming to an angreement, Lin and Wu cut the victim's cable ties and removed her blindfold at about 9am.
Before releasing the woman, Lin said she would "get people to hurt her" and that she would be "as good as dead" if the victim sought help from the police.
The victim, however, lodged a police report upon her release.
Wu was arrested on Feb 28, 2024 and was remanded for a period of time.
The victim, who was restrained for about five hours, suffered a bloodshot left eye, bruises on the side of her face, as well as marks under her eyes and on her hands and legs.
The marks on her limbs took two months to subside, while the bruises on her face took two weeks to fade.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Darren Sim sought 10 to 14 months' jail for Wu, noting that the stage at which Wu pleaded guilty qualified him for up to a 30 per cent reduction in sentence, compared with if he had claimed trial.
In coming to its proposed sentence, the prosecution considered how long the victim was confined for, the conditions of her confinement and the impact on the victim.
Wu's lawyer Riko Isaac sought four to six months' jail for him.
Mr Isaac said Wu was previously a coach training national swimmers. However, he lost his job during the COVID-19 pandemic when facilities were shut.
Wu came to Singapore in May 2023 hoping to make some successful investments to support himself and his family.
He then got to know Lin, who was a potential business partner.
Lin was in the midst of starting a salon and needed capital for the start-up, and Wu injected about S$90,000 into the business, Mr Isaac said.
The business initially did well, with Lin providing returns on time. She managed to pay Wu S$65,000, with S$25,000 outstanding, the lawyer said.
After this, however, the business fell on hard times, and Lin was unable to return more money.
"Our client was deeply upset with the co-accused as not only did he fail to make any money from the investment, he had in fact suffered significant loss," said Mr Isaac.
"He was prepared to face the music and fly back to China to see his girlfriend and daughter and explain about his loss."
Wu is divorced with a 10-year-old daughter who is being cared for by Wu's current girlfriend.
"The co-accused then told him that the victim owed her a great deal of money but refused to return it to her; this was despite many reasonable attempts and requests for the money back."
Lin then asked Wu for help to "scare" the victim into returning the money, and Lin would then repay Wu.
Wu hesitated as he was prepared to return to China but was tempted by the prospect of returning debt free, without having to disappoint his girlfriend and daughter with his failed investment, Mr Isaac said.
He agreed to help Lin but sought her assurance that the victim would not be hit and would only be scared into returning the money.
Mr Isaac asked the court to consider how Wu was a first-time offender, his remorse, his early plea of guilt and the minimal harm caused to the victim.
"In this instance, the hurt caused by our client was only through touching or pressing on the victim to hold her down to restrain her," said Mr Isaac.
"Our client was also mindful about the victim’s well-being and did his best to ensure that he did not use any more force than necessary for his purposes," he added.
For wrongfully confining a person to cause the restoration of any property, an offender can be jailed up to three years, and fined.
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Wu Zhibing, 36, helped to prepare a warehouse for this purpose by covering its closed-circuit television cameras (CCTVs) with cloth. He later aided in trussing up the 49-year-old victim with cable ties.
He then stood watch as his friend, Lin Mei, 42, questioned the victim for around five hours.
Wu, a Chinese national, was jailed for eight months on Wednesday (May 21) after he pleaded guilty to a charge of wrongfully confining the victim for the purpose of compelling the restoration of property.
A charge for remaining in Singapore unlawfully was taken into consideration for his sentencing. Lin's case is still pending before the courts.
WHAT HAPPENED
Wu and Lin were housemates. On Feb 27 last year, Wu informed Lin that he wished to return to China as his work permit had expired.
Lin then told Wu that someone owed her S$25,000 (US$19,000) and offered him S$10,000 to S$20,800 if he helped her "teach that person a lesson".
The target in question was a Singaporean woman Lin knew through illegal gambling. The woman incurred this gambling debt in November 2023.
Wu agreed to help Lin carry out a scheme that involved luring the victim to a warehouse before handcuffing and blindfolding the woman to compel her to settle her debt.
In preparation, Wu went to the fourth level of a warehouse along Jalan Buroh at Lin's instruction and covered the CCTVs with cloth to prevent the incident from being recorded.
At about 2am the next day, Lin invited the victim to meet on the pretext of going to a golf course together. The victim agreed and met Lin at her residence.
Lin then drove the victim to the warehouse at about 3.30am and lied that there was money inside. She told the victim to look for the money with her, claiming that there was some in a suitcase.
While the victim was searching, Wu took her by surprise and covered her head with a black bag.
Lin and Wu proceeded to grab the victim by her head, throat and legs before pressing the struggling woman to the floor.
They then bound her hands and legs with plastic cable ties. The black bag was replaced with a blindfold and the woman was made to sit on a chair.
The woman was restrained in this manner from about 4am to 9am, during which Lin repeatedly asked her for money while Wu watched.
"Lin asked about the money the victim received from selling her house and the victim informed Lin that she sold her house for S$300,000," said the prosecution.
Hearing this, Lin said she would only release the victim if the victim gave her S$200,000, as Lin needed the money to repay a loanshark.
The victim said she did not have any money and claimed she was unable to pay Lin.
At about 5am, the victim asked Lin to call her friend. Lin asked this friend for S$50,000, but the person could only fork out S$30,000 at about 5pm.
After coming to an angreement, Lin and Wu cut the victim's cable ties and removed her blindfold at about 9am.
Before releasing the woman, Lin said she would "get people to hurt her" and that she would be "as good as dead" if the victim sought help from the police.
The victim, however, lodged a police report upon her release.
Wu was arrested on Feb 28, 2024 and was remanded for a period of time.
The victim, who was restrained for about five hours, suffered a bloodshot left eye, bruises on the side of her face, as well as marks under her eyes and on her hands and legs.
The marks on her limbs took two months to subside, while the bruises on her face took two weeks to fade.
SENTENCING
Deputy Public Prosecutor Darren Sim sought 10 to 14 months' jail for Wu, noting that the stage at which Wu pleaded guilty qualified him for up to a 30 per cent reduction in sentence, compared with if he had claimed trial.
In coming to its proposed sentence, the prosecution considered how long the victim was confined for, the conditions of her confinement and the impact on the victim.
Wu's lawyer Riko Isaac sought four to six months' jail for him.
Mr Isaac said Wu was previously a coach training national swimmers. However, he lost his job during the COVID-19 pandemic when facilities were shut.
Wu came to Singapore in May 2023 hoping to make some successful investments to support himself and his family.
He then got to know Lin, who was a potential business partner.
Lin was in the midst of starting a salon and needed capital for the start-up, and Wu injected about S$90,000 into the business, Mr Isaac said.
The business initially did well, with Lin providing returns on time. She managed to pay Wu S$65,000, with S$25,000 outstanding, the lawyer said.
After this, however, the business fell on hard times, and Lin was unable to return more money.
"Our client was deeply upset with the co-accused as not only did he fail to make any money from the investment, he had in fact suffered significant loss," said Mr Isaac.
"He was prepared to face the music and fly back to China to see his girlfriend and daughter and explain about his loss."
Wu is divorced with a 10-year-old daughter who is being cared for by Wu's current girlfriend.
"The co-accused then told him that the victim owed her a great deal of money but refused to return it to her; this was despite many reasonable attempts and requests for the money back."
Lin then asked Wu for help to "scare" the victim into returning the money, and Lin would then repay Wu.
Wu hesitated as he was prepared to return to China but was tempted by the prospect of returning debt free, without having to disappoint his girlfriend and daughter with his failed investment, Mr Isaac said.
He agreed to help Lin but sought her assurance that the victim would not be hit and would only be scared into returning the money.
Mr Isaac asked the court to consider how Wu was a first-time offender, his remorse, his early plea of guilt and the minimal harm caused to the victim.
"In this instance, the hurt caused by our client was only through touching or pressing on the victim to hold her down to restrain her," said Mr Isaac.
"Our client was also mindful about the victim’s well-being and did his best to ensure that he did not use any more force than necessary for his purposes," he added.
For wrongfully confining a person to cause the restoration of any property, an offender can be jailed up to three years, and fined.
Continue reading...