Delivery man sentenced to 15 months in prison over hoax bomb threat against DBS headquarters – Mothership.SG

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He was called nine times by DBS on 27 May 2024, telling nine operators that he planned to bomb the bank’s headquarters.

29 November 2024 17:50

A delivery man was sentenced to 15 months in prison on 28 November 2024 for making false threats that a bomb would be planted at DBS headquarters on 27 May 2024.

The bomb hoax resulted in the deployment of a total of 67 people, including police officers, DBS staff and host security staff.

Ang Cheng Shin is also referred to as Hong Zhenxun in court documents. MotherhoodHe pleaded guilty to a charge of transmitting false information about something harmful.

Another combined charge of using vulgar language towards the bank’s customer service operators was also taken into account during the sentencing.

We owe S$11,479.63 to DBS in the form of credit card debt

Court documents said Ang owed S$11,479.63 in credit card debt to DBS as of Dec 31, 2023.

The debt was the result of accumulating interest on the S$647.52 debt he incurred in 2011.

Even though he made payments over the years, it wasn’t enough to pay off the debt and interest continued to accumulate.

In December 2023, Ang agreed to a debt repayment plan starting from January 2024.

The plan involved repayment of a total of S$3,840 in 12 monthly installments of S$290, and the remaining debt was to be written off.

However, it did not make any refunds between January and May 2024.

As a result of its failure to do so, DBS, in line with its corporate policy, introduced an automatic dial-up system which required the defendant to be called once or twice every few days.

If Ang accepted the call, the call would be forwarded to the DBS Customer Service Officer who would contact the defendant.

He was contacted nine times by DBS on 27 May 2024 and told all nine operators that he planned to bomb DBS headquarters

Between 13:44 and 13:55 on May 27, 2024, Ang answered nine calls from the bank through the automated system.

Each time the call was transferred to a different customer service operator at DBS Asia in Changi Business Park.

Ang told all nine operators that he planned to plant a bomb at DBS’s headquarters in the Marina Bay Financial Centre.

This alarmed the operators and some of them brought the issue to the attention of the bank’s senior management.

A DBS employee later called police at 2.11pm following a bomb threat.

As a result of Ang’s threats, 19 police officers in 6 police vehicles, 22 DBS personnel and 26 host security personnel were deployed.

Police officers, DBS staff and security personnel worked together to carry out bomb sweeps of the building, including around the car parks and disposal centres.

Bank personnel and security personnel also carried out a bomb search at DBS Asya.

The defendant was working a delivery business when he was arrested

Police traced the mobile phone number used for communication between Ang and customer service operators and traced him to Paya Lebar and Ubi, where he did his delivery business.

He was eventually arrested at Singpost Centre.

In their sentencing submissions, the prosecution stated that the bomb hoaxes were “particularly harmful” and requested a prison sentence of 15-18 months.

The prosecution noted that it was impossible to immediately determine the veracity of the threats and that authorities had to balance the need for verification with not creating undue panic.

The prosecutor’s office added that even the slightest miscalculation could have disastrous consequences.

In addition, bomb hoaxes, by their very nature, cause significant strain on essential and emergency services, distracting these services from real emergencies.

CNA He reported that Ang was not represented because his request for legal assistance from the Public Defender’s Office was unsuccessful.

It was stated that he requested a prison sentence of 3 to 4 months because he had to care for his elderly father.

For the crime of communicating false information about something harmful, Ang could have been imprisoned for up to 14 years, fined up to S$100,000, or both.

Top image via DBS Facebook