List of major crimes in Singapore (2000–present)

The following is a list of major crimes in Singapore that happened in 2000 and beyond. They are arranged in chronological order.

For crimes committed before 2000, see List of major crimes in Singapore (before 2000).

Notable crimes
Date Name Type No. of deaths Details
14 May 2001 Murder of Annie Leong Wai Mun Murder 1 34-year-old Anthony Ler Wee Teang (吕伟添) made headlines for hiring a youth to assassinate his wife, 30-year-old Annie Leong Wai Mun (梁慧敏), who was in the midst of divorcing him, so that he can become the sole owner of their flat and himself gain custody of their then-4-year-old daughter. Ler approached four youths and offered them a reward of S$100,000 to kill Leong. A 15-year-old boy whom Ler had known for five years accepted the offer. Ler threatened and manipulated the youth to carry out the deed and after several failed attempts, the youth fatally stabbed Leong with a knife given to him by Ler. Ler was found guilty of conspiring and abetting the murder of Leong and sentenced to death on 5 December 2001. After the failure of his appeal and clemency plea, Anthony Ler was hanged on 13 December 2002. The youth, who was not named due to his age, was found guilty of murder but spared the death sentence because he was under 18 years old when he killed Leong and thus he was detained indefinitely at the President's pleasure.[1][2] On 2 November 2018, the youth, at 32 years of age, was released after his petition for clemency was granted by President Halimah Yacob.[3]
30-31 May 2001 Murder of Sulaiman bin Hashim Gang activity 1 A 17-year-old football player named Sulaiman bin Hashim was brutally assaulted and murdered by youth gang 369 (Salakau) outside a pub in South Bridge Road. Six of the eight members involved were eventually jailed and caned for culpable homicide, rioting and voluntarily causing grievous hurt, while the remaining two are still at large till today.
9-24 December 2001 Singapore embassies attack plot Terrorism 0 A terrorist group, Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) plot to bomb several targets in Singapore such as US-aligned foreign embassies and Yishun MRT station were uncovered by the Internal Security Department, leading to an arrest of 15 JI Singaporeans that month. In subsequent years, about 40 more Singaporean JIs or JI-linked individuals were arrested.[4]
December 2002 Van Tuong Nguyen Drug trafficking 0 Australian Van Tuong Nguyen was convicted of carrying about 400 grams of heroin at Changi Airport while travelling from Cambodia to Australia and sentenced to death on 20 March 2004 by the High Court. After a failed appeal to the Court of Appeal and despite pleas for clemency from the Australian government, Nguyen was hanged on 2 December 2005.[5]
10 October 2004 Murder of Huang Na Murder 1 Eight-year-old Huang Na was found dead and stuffed inside a box at Telok Blangah Hill Park. Malaysian Took Leng How, an acquaintance of Huang's mother, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death on 27 August 2005. Took was hanged on 3 November 2006 after failing to overturn his conviction at the Court of Appeal and after President S. R. Nathan rejected his plea for clemency.[6]
November 2004 Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi Drug trafficking 0 Nigerian Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi was arrested at Changi Airport for carrying 100 capsules containing heroin. He was hanged on 26 January 2007 after failing to overturn his conviction at the Court of Appeal and after President S. R. Nathan rejected his plea for clemency.[7]
15–16 June 2005 Kallang body parts murder Murder 1 Factory supervisor Leong Siew Chor (梁少初) murdered his lover, Chinese national Liu Hong Mei (刘红梅) who was an ethnic Manchu woman from Northeastern China,[8] and dismembered her body into seven parts. He dumped her body parts at multiple places across the island, such as Kallang River. He also stole her credit card and withdrew $2,000 from her bank account after having sex with her. He was arrested on 17 June 2005 and sentenced to death on 19 May 2006. Leong was hanged on 30 November 2007 after President S. R. Nathan rejected his plea for clemency.[9][10]
15 February 2006 Tan Chor Jin Discharge of firearms 1 In the first crime involving firearms since 2000, 39-year-old Tan Chor Jin, nicknamed the "One-eyed Dragon" forcefully entered the flat of Lim Hock Soon, a 41-year-old nightclub owner. He seized Lim's family valuables before tying up Lim, his wife, his daughter and Lim's maid. He then proceeded to shoot and kill Lim, where five of the six bullets hit Lim. He managed to flee the country with the help of his accomplice, Ho Yueh Keong. He was nabbed by the Royal Malaysian Police 10 days later at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur before being extradited back to Singapore on 1 March 2006. Initially charged with murder, his charge was amended to one of an unlawful discharge of a firearm. During the trial, Tan choose to be unrepresented. In one of his defence, he claimed that Lim was about to hit him with a chair and thus shot Lim in self-defence. But his defence fell flat when the prosecution noted that Lim was tied up and could not have lifted the chair. On 22 May 2007, he was found guilty and sentenced to hang. (Under Singapore law, offenders charged with unlawful discharge of firearms will be sentenced to death, even with no intention to kill.)[11] The Court of Appeal also dismissed Tan's appeal against his death sentence on 30 January 2008.[12] He was subsequently executed on 9 January 2009.[13][14] In addition, Lim Choon Chwee, the driver, was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal for abetting the murder and instead sentenced to six months imprisonment for failing to report the robbery.[15] His accomplice, Ho, who was on the run for 9 years before being arrested and extradicted back to Singapore, was charged on 15 July 2015 for harbouring Tan out of Singapore.[16] Ho pleaded guilty on 8 August 2016.[17] Two days later, he was sentenced to a 20-month jail term.[18]
2 September 2007 Dave Teo Ming Unlawful possession of firearm 0 20-year-old National Serviceman Dave Teo Ming sparked a 20-hour-long nationwide manhunt when he went AWOL, with a SAR-21 assault rifle, eight rounds of ammunition and a knife. The purpose of Teo's AWOL was due to him wanting to kill Crystal Liew, Teo's girlfriend who broke up with him in April that same year, as well as five others whom Teo hated in his life. After his arrest, Teo faced multiple charges under the Arms Offences Act. Teo's fellow serviceman, Ong Boon Jun, who was in company of Teo who was possessing a rifle, was charged under the Act as well. At Teo's trial, it was revealed that Teo had an unhappy childhood and had experienced several tragedies in his life (including his mother abandoning him to his grandparents, parental abuse, the death of his then-12-year-old younger brother from a car accident in March 2001). These events caused Teo to encounter disciplinary problems and also led to him suffering from depression, according to a IMH report. Teo had finally snapped after his girlfriend dumped him, which drove him to commit the crime. On 9 July 2008, Justice Tay Yong Kwang convicted Teo of the charges he faced, and sentenced him to 9 years and 2 months' imprisonment and 18 strokes of the cane. During sentencing, Justice Tay expressed his sympathy towards Teo for his unfortunate circumstances, advising him to turn over a new leaf while in prison. As for Ong Boon Jun, he was sentenced to 6.5 years' jail and 6 strokes of the cane for being in company with a person in an unlawful possession of a firearm.[19][20]
August 2006 - November 2007 James Phang Wah Criminal Breach of Trust 0 Entrepreneur James Phang Wah, director of Sunshine Empire, had swindled $190 million out of numerous ordinary Singaporeans, including retirees and students. Phang deployed a Ponzi scheme to commit his crimes, enticing his victims with "lifestyle packages" to get them into investing into the scheme. Phang's criminal activites, which lasted 15 months, only ended with his arrest in November 2007. Phang, who did not plead guilty to his crimes and never shown any remorse for his treachery, was sentenced to 9 years' imprisonment and fined $66,000 for criminal breach of trust in July 2010. His wife Neo Kuon Huay was fined $60,000 and his accomplice Hoo Choon Cheat was jailed for 7 years for their roles in Phang's criminal activities.[21] Phang was released on 20 December 2017. However, a day after his release, he faced charges of fraud which he committed in Malaysia. He was currently on trial for the crimes he committed in Malaysia.[22]
12 June 2007 Yong Vui Kong Drug trafficking 0 19-year-old Malaysian Yong Vui Kong (杨伟光) was arrested for transporting more than 47 grams of heroin from Malaysia to Singapore. He was found guilty of drug trafficking and sentenced to death in November 2008. Although he lost his appeal against the death sentence and also the failure of his petition for presidential pardon, however, when changes to the law took effect in 2013, where judges have discretion to sentence drug traffickers who only act as couriers or having fulfilled any other conditions, to life imprisonment with/without caning instead of death, Yong was re-sentenced to life imprisonment and 15 strokes of the cane (the minimum number of strokes allowed for drug traffickers who were not being condemned to death but to life-long incarceration with caning) in November 2013.[23] Yong was the first drug trafficker on death row to be spared the gallows after changes in the law took effect.
27 February 2008 Mas Selamat Kastari Prison break 0 In a rare case of a criminal escaping from prison, Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari discreetly escaped from the now defunct Whitley Road Detention Centre, sparking a nation-wide manhunt. He managed to flee Singapore across to Johor via a handmade floating device on 3 March 2008 and eventually hid himself in Skudai, Johor for about a year before he was arrested by Malaysia's Counter Terrorism Division on 1 April 2009.[24] He was repatriated back to Singapore on 24 September 2010 and detained indefinitely under the Internal Security Act (ISA).[25]
30 October 2010 Death of Darren Ng Wei Jie Gang activity 1 Republic Polytechnic student, Darren Ng Wei Jie, was involved in a 'staring' incident with a group of teenage gang members. He was then brutally attacked by them at Downtown East mall in Pasir Ris and later died in hospital. A total of 12 youths were arrested and charged for rioting. Among these 12 youths, five of them – 18-year-old Stilwell Ong Keat Pin, 20-year-old Ho Wui Ming, 19-year-old Chen Wei Zhen, 18-year-old Edward Tay Wei Loong and 16-year-old Louis Tong Qing Yao – were charged with murder, but they were eventually found guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Ong received the heaviest sentence out of the five; he was sentenced to 12 years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane. The other 4 youths – Ho received a prison term of 11 years and 3 months and 10 strokes of the cane, Chen and Tay were each sentenced to 10 years' jail and 10 strokes of the cane, and Tong was ordered to be incarcerated for 8 years and to be caned 11 times. The other 7 youths received jail and caning for rioting.[26][27][28][29][30]
26 June 2012 City Harvest Church Criminal Breach of Trust Case Criminal Breach of Trust 0 City Harvest Church's pastor Kong Hee and several other church leaders were arrested for misuse of church funds. They were subsequently found guilty of criminal breach of trust. Due to a legal technicality, their original sentences were reduced. The Government of Singapore is reviewing the applicable laws to plug the legal technicality.[31]
10 July 2013 Kovan Double Murders Robbery, resulting in murder 2 Staff Sergeant Iskandar bin Rahmat murdered 67-year-old Tan Boon Sin and his 42-year-old son Tan Chee Heong (who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and witnessed his father being murdered by the police officer). The body of the elder Tan was found in his home at Hillside Drive in Kovan while the body of his son was dragged under a car for 1 km from the home before being dislodged outside Kovan MRT station.[32] The police officer, who joined the police force since 1999, fled to Malaysia in his motorcycle shortly after committing the crime, but he was arrested in Johor Bahru two days later and extradited back to Singapore.[33] He was subsequently charged with murder on 15 July 2013.[34][35] As he was facing financial difficulties and bankruptcy which could possibly cost him his job, Iskandar hatched a plan to rob the elder Tan in order to settle his debts, which led to the occurrence of this tragic double murder case.[36] Justice Tay Yong Kwang of the High Court found Iskandar guilty of murder on 4 December 2015 and sentenced him to death, rejecting Iskandar's claims of self-defence and that the killings was a result of a robbery gone wrong; because the injuries on the victims were inflicted on vital parts of the body and the force used were too excessive for self-defence etc., which clearly shown that Iskandar has intended to cause death and silence the victims upon the discovery of his monstrous acts.[37][38] On 3 February 2017, the day of Iskandar's 38th birthday, the Court of Appeal dismissed Iskandar's appeal against his conviction and sentence.[39][40] In July 2019, Iskandar's appeal for clemency was rejected by President Halimah Yacob.[41][42]
8 December 2013 Little India riot Riot 0 Known as the Little India riot, it was Singapore's first riot since 1969. About 400 men rioted in Little India after an earlier fatal bus accident resulted in a fatality. 28 men were arrested at the scene, of whom four were released. 52 Indian nationals and one Bangladeshi national were repatriated.
1 June 2015 Shooting of Taufik Zahar Noncompliance to legal order 1 A car driven by 34-year-old Mohamad Taufik Zahar took an incorrect turn and ended up at a high security checkpoint. Fearing arrest and drugs being uncovered, he was told to speed off by one of his passengers. Gurkha officers neutralised the threat by firing five shots. One of the bullets shot Taufik to death before the car came to a halt.[43] In 2016, a coroner's inquiry ruled Taufik's death as 'a lawful killing'.[44]
7 July 2016 David Roach Bank robbery 0 In the rare case of a bank robbery in recent years, 27-year-old Canadian David James Roach robbed a Standard Chartered bank in Holland Village. He presented a note to the bank teller stating that he had a weapon before he making off with S$30,000. Roach immediately fled to Bangkok after the robbery. The Thai authorities arrested Roach, and subsequently charged him of violating their foreign exchange act and for money laundering. Roach was given a 14-month sentence in jail and the money was seized by the Thai authorities.[45] Singapore was unsuccessful at requesting an extradition from the Thai authorities as the two countries have no relevant treaty. Upon his release on 11 January 2018, Roach was deported to Canada via London. Singapore requested Britain the extradition of Roach on the same day, which led to Roach being detained while in transit at London.[46] To secure the extradition, Singapore authorities assured the British authorities that Roach would not be caned if he is found guilty.[47] A London court of law found that the extradition request satisfied all requirements on 29 August 2018.[48] On 23 October 2018, Britain's Secretary of State ordered the extradition. However, Roach filed an appeal against the extradition order on 31 October 2018.[49] The appeal was dismissed in February 2020,[50] and Roach was extradited and was handed over to Singapore Police Force's custody on 16 March 2020.[51] He was charged the next day with the robbery, as well as unlawfully removing the money out of Singapore.[52]

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