UTAR Company Law (UKML2013) Case Study: Faking Death to Escape Jail

This case study examines a legal case involving Ng Kek Wee, a former company director of Singalab, who was sentenced to jail for criminal breach of trust. To avoid serving his sentence, Ng attempted to fake his death using a forged death certificate and a bogus flight itinerary. However, he was apprehended at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and brought back to Singapore. The case highlights the consequences of attempting to evade legal proceedings, including charges of abetting the fabrication of false evidence, and provides insight into the legal ramifications of such actions. The assignment requires students to analyze the case from a company law perspective, focusing on the legal violations and the implications of the director's actions. The case provides a practical application of company law principles, suitable for students studying law at UTAR.

Company director who fakes
own death to escape jail
nabbed in KLIA
 NATION
 Monday, 17 Feb 2020
6:49 PM MYT


SINGAPORE (ANN): A former company director slapped with 30 months' jail in 2017
for criminal breach of trust tried to fake his own death while out on bail.
But he was caught at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport last August and brought
back to Singapore.
On Monday (Feb 17), Ng Kek Wee, 55, was sentenced to 18 months' jail after
pleading guilty to one count each of abetting to provide false information to a public
servant; knowingly failing to turn up in court without reasonable excuse; and abetting
the fabrication of false evidence in a judicial proceeding.

He will serve his latest sentence after completing his jail term for criminal breach of
trust.
The court heard that Ng used to be a director of a firm called Singalab which
provides customised electronic business solutions.
After a trial, he was found guilty of misappropriating three million shares of a
subsidiary belonging to the firm and was sentenced on May 4,2017 to 30 months'
jail.
He also had other charges, but they were stood down to be dealt with at a later date.
Court documents did not reveal details of these charges.
Ng indicated in 2017 that he wanted to appeal against his conviction and sentence,
and was allowed bail. He was also granted permission to leave Singapore for
business reasons.
On Feb 18 last year, a pre-trial conference involving the stood down charges was
held before District Judge Lim Tse Haw.
Acting on instructions from Ng, his unsuspecting lawyer Lim Chee Sansaid that his
client would be returning to Singapore from China where he was purportedly seeking
"medical treatment".
Judge Lim ordered for a copy of Ng's flight ticket to be uploaded onto the State
Courts online portal called the Integrated Case Management System (ICMS).
Lim Chee San later received from Ng a bogus electronic ticket itinerary, which
indicated he would be arriving in Singapore on March 13 last year, after a stopover in
Indonesia. The lawyer then uploaded it onto ICMS on Feb 25.
Meanwhile, Ng travelled to Indonesia and asked a man known as Ali Ruslan to forge
a death certificate stating he had died there on March 10 that year.
Ali Ruslan emailed the forged document to Lim Chee San who tendered it during the
appeal hearing five days later.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Thiagesh Sukumaran said: "If the appeal had been
abated, the authorities would not have been able to take any further steps, such as
issue a warrant of arrest or an Interpol notice, to apprehend the accused.

"The accused had therefore intended to evade apprehension by the authorities when
he instigated (Lim Chee San) to tender a forged death certificate."
In a statement on Monday, the Singapore Police Force said that the Commercial
Affairs Department had carried out checks on Ng's purported death and officers
found that he had travelled to Malaysia on several occasions after March 10 last
year.
With assistance from the Royal Malaysian Police, he was arrested in Kuala Lumpur
about five months later and brought back to Singapore.
For abetting the fabrication of false evidence in a judicial proceeding, offenders can
be jailed for up to seven years and fined. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network