Sheng Siong kidnapper gets life imprisonment, caning
The man who kidnapped the mother of the Sheng Siong supermarket chain’s founder was found guilty by Singapore’s High Court on 1 December 2016.
Lee Sze Yong, 44, was sentenced to life imprisonment and three strokes of the cane.
In a letter obtained by The Straits Times, Lee had asked for the death penalty even though the prosecutors and Lee’s lawyer had agreed on the life sentence and caning. Lee said he had “ruined his life”.
In the letter, he wrote that he “had hurt the people closest to [him]”, especially his aged mother. “As her only dependent, I will hate and despite myself as a failure as long as I live,” he said.
“By dying, I hope that I have repaid my debt and to be at peace,” he added.
On 8 January 2014, Lee abducted Ng Lye Poh, then 79, and demanded S$20 million in ransom from her son, Lim Hock Chee. Lee admitted tricking Ng into getting into a rented car, telling her that her son had fallen in the office and that he would take her to see him. Lee held Ng hostage for 12 hours.
Lim negotiated the ransom sum down to S$2 million, and Lee released Ng after the ransom money was dropped off in Sembawang Park.
Police also found evidence that Lee had made a list of other potential targets who were rich individuals in Singapore such as the children of billionaire Peter Lim, BreadTalk owner George Quek and Fragrance Group chairman Koh Wee Meng.
The debt-ridden Lee devised the kidnap plan after reading the Forbes’ list of Singapore’s richest. Lee had recorded these plans as early as 2010 and even planned how he would spend the ransom money he received.
Lee’s former lover, Heng Chen Boon, 51, helped him to carry out the kidnapping. Heng was previously sentenced to three years’ jail for his role in abducting Ng, and has since been released.
