Man admits to role in staged $418,000 heist with 'illicit money-changing trade' courier
SINGAPORE – Working for a man involved in an illicit money-changing trade, a courier who helped to physically bring cash totalling $418,000 into Singapore decided to stage a robbery and keep the money for himself.
Another man, whom the courier engaged to pose as a robber, pleaded guilty in a district court on Friday (March 12) to one count of cheating linked to the staged robbery and two unrelated assault charges.
The court heard that Joshua John Foo Kuo-Li, 25, was roped in by the courier Ernest Leong Zhang Sheng, 28, to commit the staged heist.
Foo and two others carried out the offence outside a Balestier Road condominium at around 2.30am on Feb 25, 2019.
The Singaporean later passed the loot to Leong, who gave him $50,000 as a reward.
On Friday, Foo also admitted to a criminal intimidation charge and seven drug-related offences.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Sunil Nair said that Leong had worked with two other couriers – Ng Yu Jie, 22, and Hong Jing Hui, 28 – to physically transport the cash from South Korea to Singapore in 2019. The trio were then working for Royston Lim Swee Sheng, 39.
The three couriers flew to South Korea on Feb 19 that year and Ng received the cash from an unknown man there. The trio then split the money for ease of transportation to Singapore.
Three days later, Foo received a call from Leong, who told him of the plan to cheat Lim by staging a robbery. Foo agreed to take part in it.
The DPP said: “The act would fool the victim into believing that the money had been taken by unknown robbers who had no connection with Ernest, Yu Jie or Jing Hui.
“Ernest would meet (Foo) elsewhere to collect the bag and pay him the agreed sum of $50,000.”
Upon reaching Singapore on Feb 25, 2019, Leong told the two other couriers that he had to rush home to attend to “something urgent”.
After that, he contacted Foo and told him to get ready for the staged robbery in Balestier Road. Foo engaged two people to help him commit the offence.
When they reached their destination, one of them snatched a bag containing the cash from Ng’s hands.
Foo also brandished a knife in Ng’s direction before Foo’s group fled the scene in a car.
Foo later met Leong for supper in Sims Avenue and received $50,000 after handing him the bag.
Lim, Ng and Hong have been dealt with in court earlier over money-laundering offences, while Leong is still at large.
In unrelated incidents, Foo also assaulted two men and threatened a convenience store worker with a knife.
He was arrested in March 2019 over multiple offences including drug-related ones.
Foo, who is now in remand, will be sentenced on March 26.
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