A man rides an electric scooter on a sidewalk in Singapore. (PHOTO: Roslan Rahman / AFP via Getty Images)
SINGAPORE – An e-scooter rider broke into the lane of a motorcycle, causing both the rider and passenger to fall to the ground.
Itto Wong was also fined $ 30,000 and fined three times for unlicensed moneylending crimes, such as harassing debtors by pouring coffee on their doorsteps.
The 26-year-old Singaporean pleaded guilty to violating the Moneylender Act; cause serious injuries to the 55-year-old motorcyclist through negligence; and to a criminal breach of trust by sucking money from customers while working as a delivery agent. Another six charges of a similar nature were considered for his conviction.
Collision with motorcyclist when turning
On November 29, 2018 at around 7:40 a.m., the motorcyclist and his daughter drove down the Woodlands Loop, while Wong drove the motorcycle on the four-lane road in the direction of travel. He knew it was illegal to drive his e-scooter on the street.
Near 10 Woodlands Loop, Wong tried to turn off the left lane across the street to get to his work place. The motorcyclist and his daughter were in the right lane.
As Wong crossed the street, he broke into the lane of the motorcycle, which resulted in a collision. The victim lost control of his motorcycle and fell to the ground with his daughter. As a result, Wong also fell.
The victims were taken to hospital and the motorcyclist suffered multiple fractures, including his eye, rib and collarbone; a collapsed lung; and flail breast, in which the ribs separate from the chest wall.
He was jailed for four days and given 34 days of medical leave, with a total of $ 2,022.19 in medical expenses.
The daughter suffered from bruises on the calf, cuts on the knees and elbows, abrasions and tenderness in the knee. She was given medical leave for seven days, with expenses totaling $ 262.07.
The story goes on
Wong himself suffered an unspecified head injury.
Other cash-related offenses
In January last year, Wong also started borrowing from unlicensed moneylenders because he felt he was “not making enough money,” court documents said. In the end, he owed them $ 2,000.
One of the moneylenders suggested in March last year that the loans be paid off by harassing other debtors and helping with bank transfers. The moneylender known as Lawrence had threatened to harass Wong, so Wong agreed.
On instructions from Lawrence, Wong transferred funds to other bank accounts until his bank account was blocked in May last year. Wong then used another bank account to support the transfers until it was frozen last August as well.
Wong also harassed other debtors. He bought a can of coffee on October 5 last year and poured it on the doorstep and main gate of a debtor who lived in Punggol, and snapped photos of what he did to send to Lawrence. A resident of the unit called the police about Wong’s actions.
On the same day, at work, Wong’s supervisor filed a police report stating that Wong had failed to turn in customer-entrusted cash.
Wong has been a delivery agent for CM Logistics, which provides courier services, since January last year. When delivering parcels, he had to collect cash from customers and hand it over to the respective retailer.
However, as of August last year, Wong began pocketing the money instead of returning it to CM Logistics. From August through September, he skimmed a total of $ 1,300.93 eight times.
CM Logistics found out about the lack of cash when the merchant for whom Wong had provided delivery services raised an issue.
Wong was given the option to repay the money, but he didn’t. CM Logistics eventually paid the shortfall to the dealer.
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