SINGAPORE — He was still waiting to be tried for a string of offences that ranged from possessing drugs to participating in a kidnapping scheme.

Then over three days, Chew Guan Mong managed to rack up a new slate of charges after going on a crime spree that culminated with him having a stand-off with immigration and police officers at Woodlands Checkpoint.

The 45-year-old pleaded guilty on Wednesday (Aug 28) to 16 assorted charges in the State Courts, including using a forged Singapore driving licence to rent a car, facilitating the retention of criminal proceeds in relation to a kidnapping plot, consuming methamphetamine and possessing scheduled weapons. He is expected to be sentenced next month.

The court heard that Chew was first arrested on Aug 1, 2017 at his home, where narcotics officers found a dozen packets containing meth on him. He was released on bail pending investigations.

Less than a week later, he used a forged driving licence to rent a car, and that same month, he got tied up in a kidnapping scheme.

The kidnapping case, which is before the courts, began when Goh Chun Kiat allegedly sought the help of a human trafficking syndicate to flee Singapore because he was wanted for cheating offences. Goh, then 39, was later abducted by the traffickers in Malaysia.

The traffickers then contacted Chew, who roped in Alexander Tay Tong Sing, then 21, to collect S$80,000 in ransom money from Goh’s father in Singapore.

Chew kept S$1,000 for himself as a commission and gave Tay the same amount. Chew then handed the remaining S$78,000 to another man in Singapore.

Chew and Tay were arrested on Aug 20, 2017. Chew’s urine tested positive for meth and the authorities found a knuckle-duster and flick knife on him as well, which he claimed he carried for self-defence.

He was released on an increased bail amount of S$40,000.

However, Chew re-offended again about five months later. On Jan 2 and 4 last year, he splashed red paint on some people’s housing units on the instructions of a loan shark.

DRIVING UNDER BAN

On Jan 5 at about 1.30pm, he drove a rented black Toyota Camry along the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) towards Tuas even though he was under a 30-year driving ban from 2004 to 2034. Court documents showed that he had two previous convictions of driving a car when he was not allowed to do so.

As he drove the rented car, Chew swerved between lanes and side-swiped an SMRT bus close to the PIE exit to Clementi Road. He eventually crashed into the side wall of the expressway near the road shoulder.

Abandoning the car, he ran across the centre divider in the opposite direction and down the slope of the slip road merging into Upper Bukit Timah Road. He was carrying a bag containing the sickle, a rusty long knife and bottle of kerosene.

Chew tried to rob someone else of his car by pointing “one half of a (pair of) scissors” at him, but the person managed to pull the keys out before Chew could drive off.

When Chew reached the end of the slip road, he ran up to Ms Toh Pin Pin in her car, which was stationary in heavy traffic. Waving his sickle, he shouted at her to get out of the car and she did. He then drove off in her car to Woodlands Checkpoint.

THE STANDOFF

There, after getting stuck in the motorcycle lane, he crashed through the traffic control barrier, causing damage to the tune of S$6,516.

When police, auxiliary and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority officers approached his wrecked car, he got out and brandished the sickle at them, warning them not to approach him.

After he was arrested, a small packet of meth was found on him.

District Judge Ng Peng Hong called for a report to assess whether Chew is suitable for preventive detention.

Preventive detention is a severe punishment that is only imposed when the court is satisfied that a recalcitrant offender should be locked away so as to protect the public from him.