A POLICE officer, who responded to an advertisement headlined: 'Need Urgent Cash' went from the frying pan into the fire.
Now a bankrupt, Kamalrulsahrin Rahim was jailed a month on Wednesday for cheating finance company Hitachi Capital in a renovation loan scam three years ago.
A district court heard that the 35-year-old was unable to pay several bank loans and called the telephone number in the advertisement. Court documents indicate that he was put in touch with 32-year-old Lucas Ang Liang.
Ang, then an employee of renovation firm StarBeau Contractor, is alleged to have suggested that Kamalrulsahrin take up a renovation loan from a financial institution and use part of the money to settle his debts.
On July 19, 2006, the two men are said to have submitted an application for a $27,000 renovation loan, supported by a quotation from StarBeau.
The court was told that the renovation to Kamalrulsahrin's flat in Yishun Avenue 11 came up to $9,470.From the balance, he received $5,000, with the rest is believed to have gone to Ang.
Kamalrulsahrin, who pleaded guilty to cheating Hitachi Capital, had acted out of financial desperation, his lawyer Sunil Sudheesan said. He has since left the police force and is working as a security courier, earning $1,200 a month.
Unable to service the loan and pay his other debts, he has also been declared a bankrupt, said his lawyer. Asking for the court for a lenient sentence, Mr Sudheesan cited a previous case where a fine was imposed.
But District Judge Ch'ng Lye Beng said that a jail term was necessary as Kamalrulsahrin had been a police officer when committing the offence.
He could have been jailed for up to three years and fine. Ang is claiming trial and his case has not been heard.
