Court orders forfeiture of van used in crime despite vehicle rental firm protesting its innocence
Source: Straits Times
Article Date: 14 Aug 2024
Author: Samuel Devaraj
The court said that it was bound by law to order a mandatory forfeiture of the van as the two conditions of the relevant provision of the Customs Act 1960 had been satisfied.
A vehicle rental company, which leased out a van in 2023 that was subsequently used in a crime, has claimed it had taken precautions to track the vehicle by placing a Global Positioning System (GPS) device in it.
After being leased, the van was used to transport duty unpaid cigarettes, and the man involved in the offence was arrested and sentenced to six months and two weeks’ jail.
In a judgment dated Aug 5 that was recently made available, District Judge Lau Qiuyu ordered that the van be forfeited, despite protestations by the vehicle rental company, A-Tec Autohub, of its innocence.
She said the court was bound by law to order a mandatory forfeiture of the van as the two conditions of the relevant provision of the Customs Act 1960 had been satisfied.
These are the fact that an offence under the act has been committed and that the van was used in the commission of the offence.
District Judge Lau added that while the High Court expressed sympathy for the vehicle owners who were not implicated in the underlying criminal offence, it made it clear that the wording of the statute did not allow for any regard to be had to the degree of the vehicle owner’s innocence, or to the level of precaution that had been taken.
Said the judge: “Similarly, for the appellant here, even if the prosecution were wrong to say that the accused had been driving without a valid driving licence, and even if the appellant had conducted due diligence and taken all necessary precautions, these factors would not provide any ground for the court to release the vehicle to the appellant.
“It might be that any recourse to the appellant would have to lie in civil remedies,” she added.
According to the judgment, the offender – Daniel Teo Seng Chai – was introduced in late April 2023 to a man known as Ban Niao for a job to deliver duty unpaid cigarettes for remuneration.
Teo agreed and was instructed to rent a van, preferably with tinted windows to reduce visibility of the contents inside. He then rented the van from A-Tec Autohub.
On May 5, 2023, Ban Niao told Teo to collect duty unpaid cigarettes from a lorry in Bulim.
Teo collected 11 carton boxes and loaded them into the van.
He then left the van at a carpark in Ubi and awaited further instructions from Ban Niao.
Later that day, following Ban Niao’s instructions, Teo returned to the van and passed two boxes of duty unpaid cigarettes to a buyer.
Shortly after, Ban Niao again contacted Teo to inform him that another buyer would be collecting four boxes of duty unpaid cigarettes.
When Teo returned to the van, officers from Singapore Customs moved in.
They found nine boxes containing 450 cartons, each containing 200 duty unpaid cigarettes.
Teo was arrested and the van was seized as a case exhibit.
While the financing company for the van, Pan Pac Credit; its insurance company, Income Insurance; and Teo did not contest the application, A-Tec Autohub laid claim to the van.
The prosecution said investigations revealed that at the time the van was rented to Teo, his driving licence had been suspended.
It claimed that had A-Tec Autohub conducted its due diligence, it would have realised that Teo did not have a valid driving licence.
In its response, A-Tec Autohub tendered the vehicle rental agreement which enclosed an image of Teo’s driving licence.
It also highlighted that no charge appeared to have been served on Teo for driving under disqualification and thus there was no evidence of him doing so with their van.
While the firm had placed a GPS device in the van, it said that due to the nature of its business, it would be impossible to track every single vehicle leased out.
According to the judgment, A-Tec Autohub has filed an appeal against the decision.
Source: Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.
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