Man who gave deceased colleague's details to police to cover up traffic offences jailed

He fled from an accident scene after colliding with a car and later furnished a deceased former colleague’s personal details instead of his own when asked to assist with the case.

Ivan Tan Chun Keng, a 32-year-old Singaporean, formed the idea when attending the colleague’s funeral 20 days after the hit-and-run accident.

Tan, who only had a provisional driving license when he got into the accident, was jailed four months and fined $1,800 on Friday (4 May) in the State Courts after pleading guilty to obstructing police investigations by submitting his former colleague’s particulars and road traffic offences, including failing to provide his particulars to the woman whose car he collided with.

Tan, a former operations executive, was also disqualified from driving for a year.

On 6 June last year at about 7am, the car that Tan was driving collided with the car driven by the woman, Chua Yah Choo, at the traffic light junction of Clementi Avenue 6 and Clementi Loop. Both drivers, who were unharmed, alighted to check on their cars.

Tan told Chua to stop by the side of the road to settle the matter but didn’t give his details to Chua and immediately sped off from the scene when the traffic light turned green. Chua tried to pursue Tan in her car but lost him. She later lodged a police report.

After leaving the scene, Tan went to work. He later drove the car to a workshop to repair the damage.

Three days later, Tan returned to the workshop, paid for the repairs and asked the staff to return the car to a Tan Ah Seng, who was the registered car owner.

The following month, Tan Ah Seng received a notice from the Traffic Police to furnish driver’s

particulars regarding the hit and run incident on 6 June. Tan Ah Seng called Tan about the incident and the latter admitted to his role. Tan Ah Seng handed the notice to Tan, who initially planned to provide his particulars to Traffic Police.

However, four days after receiving the notice, on 26 June, Tan changed his mind. He attended the funeral of a former colleague, Low Geok Seng, who had passed away two days earlier. He decided to use Low’s particulars in the notice instead of his own after speaking to a friend at the funeral.

He submitted Low’s particulars to Traffic Police after obtaining his NRIC from another former colleague. He also signed off as the registered owner of the car.

On 25 July, acting on the information submitted by Tan, Traffic Police sent a letter to Low to assist with investigations regarding the accident on 6 June. Low’s son replied to the investigating officer (IO) that his late father had been admitted to Singapore General Hospital sometime in May 2017 due to cancer and passed away on 24 June. He said that his father was bedridden during the time of the accident and was unable to drive.

On 7 August, the IO called up Tan Ah Seng for an interview, during which it was revealed that Tan was the actual driver of the car. Tan was called up for an interview a day later and he confessed.

DPP Lim said, “(Tan’s) actions led to significant anguish for the family of Low Geok Seng, who were in the bereavement period when the letter dated 25 July 2017 was sent.”

He added that incident caused Low’s family member to allege in a Facebook post on the “Singapore Uncensored” page that the IO wrongly accused Low of being involved in the accident in order to close the case.

“There was significant public interest as a result, including online views which agreed with the allegations made in the post. Extra police resources were also devoted to identifying the accused,” the DPP said.

A licensing officer from Traffic Police also confirmed that Tan only had a provisional driving license, which was valid till 6 July 2017. Tan had breached the conditions of his license by not displaying an L-plate on the car that he was driving. He had also driven without the supervision of a licensed driving instructor.

Tan’s lawyer, John Koh, asked for eight weeks’ jail, a fine of $1,800 and a 12-month disqualification period for his client.

He said his client had acted in the spur of the moment due to “immense fear and panic”. Koh said that his client, who has since been terminated from his job, was remorseful for his actions. Tan has since apologised to the IO involved for the trouble caused.

Koh added that Tan’s wife was terminated from a tuition centre where she was employed due to the “intense media exposure” of the incident.

“We are instructed that (Tan) and his family have even received death threats online, which have resulted in significant emotional trauma,” said Koh.

Commenting on the case, District Judge Brenda Tan said Tan’s conduct led to a wastage of public resources and harmed the police’s reputation.