A Singaporean man was sentenced to 3 years and 6 weeks imprisonment on Friday (5 May 2023) after printing fake Singapore Dollar (SGD) notes to pay for sexual services by a Filipino social escort last year.
The man, 41-year-old Feroz Akthar Hussain, also fled Singapore to Malaysia by hiding in the engine compartment of a bus on 4 January 2023 to avoid prosecution.
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The father of 7 returned to Singapore a day later for undisclosed reasons and was arrested at the immigration checkpoint while not having his passport with him.
As reported by SCMP, the accused didn’t have enough money for the sexual services and decided to photocopy four SGD50 notes to pay the 24-year-old Filipino social escort on 28 December 2022.
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He then used the fake notes to offset an hour of sexual services with the social escort at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel which cost a total of SGD350 or RM1,171.
However, his action was uncovered after the social escort tried to pay for her laundry using the photocopied money at the Mercure Singapore on Steven Hotel near Orchard Road on 31 December 2022.
The front office manager of the hotel suspected the notes to be fake and called the police and that is when Feroz’s crime was found out by the Singapore Police Force (SPF). He was then arrested.
On 4 January 2023, Feroz fled to Malaysia while he was out on bail by hiding himself in a small space behind the bus engine without being noticed by Immigration officers at the Tuas Checkpoint.
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Working as a bus driver at that time, Feroz managed to smuggle into Malaysia by asking help from his colleague, known as ‘Din’.
As mentioned earlier, the accused returned to Singapore on 5 January 2023 at around 1.35 without his Singapore passport and confessed o the immigration officers that he was wanted by SPF and that he had crossed into Malaysia illegally.
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During the trial, Feroz pleaded guilty to a charge each of using counterfeit currency and of failing to produce his passport to an immigration officer.
Two other charges related to forgery of notes and another for skipping bail were also taken into consideration when sentencing.
So, what do you guys think of the case? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
Also read: M’sian HIV Positive Man Jailed in Singapore for Lying About Sexual Status & Donating Blood
