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Malaysian who stole renovation tools from new flats jailed 4 years

(Photo: Thinkstock)
(Photo: Thinkstock)

Over three years, he entered Singapore from Malaysia with a sole purpose in mind: to steal construction equipment left behind by contractors in flats that were under construction.

Khee Kim Choon, a 48-year-old Malaysian renovation contractor, sold some of the stolen tools – including hand drills, electric cutters, battery sets and handsaws – and used the remainder for his own work in Johor Bahru. When one of the HDB contractors found some items missing in his course of work, he informed the police who set up an ambush to catch Khee in the act.

Khee, who works in Johor Bahru, was sentenced to four years’ jail after he pleaded guilty on Friday (21 July). He was convicted on nine counts of committing housebreaking and theft by day and night, with 20 similar charges taken into consideration for sentencing.

The offences, which occurred from 2014 to 2016, took place in incomplete flats at estates including Jurong West, Clementi, Sengkang and Choa Chu Kang. The value of the items that Khee stole amounted to $19,849, with each item worth between $50 and $1,000. Khee used the money he gained from the sold items to fund his daily expenses and gambling habit.

The court heard that Khee worked in Singapore as a sub-contractor before 2007 on a work permit. However, Khee returned home after cancelling his work permit in 2007 as he was unable to secure contracts. He then worked in Johor Bahru as a renovation contractor.

In 2011, Khee visited Singapore frequently to gamble in the casinos and lost money most of the time. Two years later, Khee got to know from acquaintances that there were abandoned materials such as scrap metal and wires that he could pick up from new HDB units that were being built.

In 2014, Khee entered Singapore on a social visit pass to search for HDB buildings under construction. Even though he chanced on a few new HDB buildings, Khee’s efforts were fruitless.

While he was walking around the unoccupied HDB flats, Khee noticed workers entering units by unfastening the numerical locks with the number combination. This was when he formed the intention to steal. Khee then copied down the number combinations of the chain locks and left.

Khee would wait for the workers to leave the units after work, enter the units with the copied number combinations, then steal the equipment used for renovation works. He brought his loot back to Johor Bahru where he sold some to second-hand dealers and kept the rest for his own work. Khee was caught in September last year when the police ambushed him.

The arrest came after a renovation worker, Muhammad Isa Roslan, 42, who was performing some works at an HDB flat, noticed that his materials were missing.

At around 9.30am on 26 September 2016, Isa had gone to the HDB flat in Choa Chu Kang to work. At 11am, Isa made three trips to his vehicle to pick up bags of cement, each time locking the gate with a numerical chain lock. After Isa made the fourth trip and returned to the unit, however, he noticed that the numerical chain lock was unfastened.

Isa searched the unit and found that a demolition hammer drill and two containers of cement strengthener were missing. The items were worth a total of $860. He called the police and officers conducted a search on the block. They found the hammer drill on the second floor and laid an ambush for Khee.

On the same day, Khee had entered Singapore at around 10am via Tuas Checkpoint with the intention to steal from a unit in Choa Chu Kang. When he arrived at the block where Isa was working at, he spotted Isa carrying cement bags to the unit. Khee then took a lift to the 19th floor, where the unit was at, and copied down the number combination of the chain lock on his palm.

After Isa left at 11am, Khee entered the unit with the code he copied and stole the items. He stashed the hammer drill in a dry riser beside a unit on the second floor and the cement strengtheners in a dry riser beside a unit on the 17th floor.

Khee, who wanted to avoid detection, intended to retrieve the stashed items at night, said Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Rimplejit Kaur. Khee then went to a nearby coffeeshop where he waited for the right time to get the items. Khee returned to the flat to retrieve the items at 2am on 27 September 2016. As he was bringing the items to his car at the carpark, he was arrested by police officers.

The prosecution sought a jail sentence of between two years and 30 months, citing several aggravating factors. DPP Rimplejit said that Khee showed a high level of premeditation and had entered Singapore for the “sole purpose” of committing theft.

In mitigation, Khee’s lawyer Teo Choo Kee cited Khee’s family circumstances. His wife had been undergoing dialysis three times a week for the past five to six years, Teo said. The lawyer added that no damage had been done to the flats as Khee had not forced his way in.

For housebreaking or house-trespassing by night to commit theft, Khee could have been jailed between two and 14 years. For the same offence committed by day, Khee could have been jailed for up to ten years.