SINGAPORE: The Malaysian man accused of helping former City Harvest Church leader Chew Eng Han flee Singapore in February was on Thursday (Apr 12) sentenced to six months in jail.
Khoo Kea Leng, 45, pleaded guilty to one charge under the Immigration Act.
He had collected S$8,000 in cash from Chew on Feb 20 as partial payment for helping him skip town to avoid serving jail time. The plan was for Chew, 57, to flee to Malaysia, according to court documents.
Khoo met Chew in the vicinity of Block 75 Marine Drive, near East Coast Park, to discuss escape plans and for Khoo to collect payment, a court heard.
Khoo was then a freelance driver who ferried passengers between Singapore and Johor Bahru and other parts of Malaysia.
Chew was arrested at sea the next day, Feb 21, and charged the following morning with fleeing the country from Pulau Ubin – an unauthorised point of departure – in a motorised sampan.
He had been on bail of S$1 million and was due to turn himself in on Feb 22 to start serving a jail term of three years and four months for his part in misappropriating S$50 million of City Harvest Church funds. The fraud is the largest involving a charity in Singapore’s history.
The sampan, piloted by fish farm owner Tan Poh Teck, was intercepted by the Police Coast Guard about 2.4km away from Pulau Ubin after a tip-off.
Tan, 53, has also been charged. He faces three charges of helping people to flee Singapore illegally in his fishing boat.
Chew, who is represented by Mr Jonathan Phipps, and Tan will next appear in court on May 3 for a pre-trial conference. Chew’s older brother Eng Soon, 61, was arrested the same day. He has not been charged.
