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Man cheated convicted Ferrari driver of $2,000, claimed bribe was to ‘improve her prison life’

Shi Ka Yee, 72, arriving at the former State Courts on 17 August 2018. (PHOTO: Gabriel Choo / Yahoo News Singapore)
Shi Ka Yee arriving at the former State Courts on 17 August 2018. (PHOTO: Gabriel Choo / Yahoo News Singapore)

SINGAPORE — After reading about Shi Ka Yee's case in the newspapers while in prison, a man sought her out and claimed that he knew prison officers who could look out for her while she served her sentence.

But Francis Ng Wee Keng, 48, had not known any prison officer who could help Shi, the Ferrari driver who made headlines after she punched a BMW driver over a traffic dispute.

Apart from the road dispute, Shi Ka Yee, 76, had also argued with a neighbour over a tree which encroached into her neighbour’s property. She then trapped the worker who tried to cut down her tree in a crane bucket, and drove her car into the neighbour, who tried to stop her from leaving. She also pleaded guilty to drink driving and obstructing traffic.

For these offences, which occurred between 2014 and 2017, the retired interior designer was given six weeks’ jail and fined $4,500. She started serving her jail term on 25 October 2018.

Ng came to read about Shi's widely reported case in 2018 while he was in prison. After his release in early October 2018, Ng, then jobless, approached Shi and arranged a meeting in Marriott Hotel, where he lied that he knew prison officers who could look out for Shi.

Between 8 and 17 October 2018, Ng updated Shi about the supposed favours he had done for her, such as calling and speaking to the Commissioner of Prison about her case and arranging for Shi to meet up with two senior female prison officers – all of which were lies.

On 17 and 18 October 2018, Ng sent WhatsApp messages to Shi to request for money for him to entertain prison officers. This was purportedly so that he could build rapport with the officers and help ensure a smoother experience for Shi in prison. He claimed that Shi could keep her hair long and not get “bullied” by fellow inmates.

Shi passed Ng $2,000 in cash on 19 October 2018. Ng later used the money for his own expenses.

Even though his case was fixed for trial, Ng pleaded guilty on Thursday (6 January) to the charge of corruptly soliciting gratification. He also pleaded guilty to separate charges of trespassing to commit theft, fraudulent possession of items, driving a car without the consent of its owner, and driving while under disqualification and without insurance.

He is expected to be sentenced on 18 January.

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