Man faces jail and fine for harbouring prostitutes
A 53-year-old man was in court on Monday to face 10 charges of harbouring prostitutes at his house.
Rahamad Kasim, a taxi driver, is being charged under the Women’s Charter and if found guilty, he could be jailed for up to five years and fined $10,000 for each charge.
The stout, bespectacled man allegedly rented two rooms in his flat at Jalan Ampas to five Filipinos who were offering sexual services in Singapore from May 2012 to September 2014.
He denied the charges when they were read out to him in the State Court. Wearing a white polo t-shirt and pants, Rahamad, who represented himself, was seen scribbling away as he sat in the dock.
Accused disputed his statement
DSP William Tan Ah Hock, a police officer with the Specialised Crime Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department, was the first person to take the stand on Monday.
DSP Tan, who was the officer recording Rahamad’s statement when he was arrested in September last year, testified that the accused gave his version of the story willingly and was given a chance to check his statement before signing it.
In his statement, Rahamad said that he was aware that the women who were renting out the rooms in his flat were prostitutes.
In the court, however, Rahamad challenged DSP Tan, saying that he was unaware that they were “social escorts” who provided sexual services.
“I was not in the right state of mind when I made the statement and I can’t recall saying those things,” said Rahamad.
Prostitutes identified accused as flat owner
The five Filipino prostitutes took the stand on Monday to testify against the accused. All of them identified Rahamad as the owner of the flat and admitted paying him $25 a day to stay at his house.
The women identified him as Kuya Raffy (Brother Raffy in Tagalog) when examined by Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Sarah Shi.
They said that Rahamad did not check their identification papers or made them sign a lease when they arrived at his house.
One of them, Analyn Artificio, said that she stayed at the flat thrice, between April and May 2013, August and October 2013, and August and September 2014.
Artificio admitted that she was a prostitute and offered sexual services to customers at various hotels in Singapore. According to her, an operator in Singapore would arrange her bookings, with each session costing between $150 and $250.
“The operator will alert me of my assignment and I will take a taxi down to the hotels. We are on call 24 hours a day and usually I serve my customers from 6 pm to 6 am.
“There were a few times that I took Kuya Raffy’s taxi for my assignment,” said Artificio.
The three-day trial continues on Tuesday.
