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Man jailed for lending identity card to bankrupt looking to enter casino

Singapore’s State Courts. (Yahoo file photo)
Singapore’s State Courts. (Yahoo file photo)

A 40-year-old man who lent his identity card to an undischarged bankrupt so that the latter could enter a casino was jailed four weeks on Wednesday (3 January).

Mohamed Hasni Hashim pleaded guilty at the State Courts to three charges of intentionally aiding Mohamed Haron Hassan to enter the casino at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) using the former’s IC and allowing the latter to sign up for its membership card. Eight other charges were taken into consideration for Hasni’s sentencing.

According to court documents, Haron, an undischarged bankrupt since 13 October 2011, had been issued with a third-party exclusion order by the Insolvency & Public Trustee’s Office. This bars him from entering any casino in Singapore until he has been discharged from bankruptcy.

Hasni, who was introduced to Haron by a mutual friend, was aware of Haron’s circumstances at the time of the offence.

On 24 October 2016, Haron told Hasni that he wanted to enter a casino but could not due to the exclusion order. Haron then asked to borrow Hasni’s IC to enter the casino.

The accused obliged and Haron subsequently entered the casino at RWS daily in the early mornings of 24 to 28 October. Haron also used the accused’s IC to apply for an RWS Singapore Classic membership card that allowed him to accumulate points from various gambling activities.

The ruse came to light when an informant, known only as Faizal, called the police on 6 November 2016 to state that he had detained one person for impersonation.

Hasni’s lawyer Sofia Bakhash had asked for a fine for her client as he was a first-time offender. Hasni will not be appealing against his sentence, which he began serving on Wednesday.

Haron, who faces 11 similar charges, has yet to be sentenced.

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