Construction worker fined $2k for breaching quarantine order

A construction worker breached his quarantine amid the Covid-19 outbreak as he wanted to visit his bank to inquire about supposed unauthorised transactions.

He had apparently received text messages stating somebody had withdrawn more than $1,000 from his bank account.

Chinese national Liu Dufeng, 50, left his Genting Road dormitory on Feb 21 and walked to MacPherson Road, but the POSB branch was no longer there.

He returned to his dormitory after spending 11/2 hours outdoors, the court heard.

Liu was fined $2,000 yesterday after pleading guilty to an offence under the Infectious Diseases Act.

He had been placed on quarantine from Feb 12 to 24 as he was suspected of being a contact of a Covid-19 case.

Liu said he received a text message on Feb 14 stating somebody had withdrawn $1,000 from his bank account, and another message six days later about a RM900 (S$294) withdrawal.

He also said he called the bank hotline over the unauthorised transactions but did not understand what the bank employee was saying.

He decided to visit his bank, leaving his dormitory on Feb 21 without informing the authorities.

Liu later received a phone call from the operation management centre of security firm Certis asking him where he was.

He returned to his dormitory at around noon and Certis officers then served him with an extended quarantine order, until Feb 25.

During investigations, Liu said he had not interacted with anyone during his trip out.

Deputy public prosecutors Jane Lim and Phoebe Tan urged the court to sentence him to a fine of $2,500, saying his breach was minor. They added that he had worn a mask while outdoors and there was no evidence to show that he had come into contact with others after leaving his place of isolation.

The prosecutors also said Liu's sentence should be lower than that of another offender, Indian national Vardireddy Nageswara Reddy, 35, who was fined $3,500 last month after pleading guilty to an offence under the Infectious Diseases Act.

They said this was because Liu's reasons for leaving his place of isolation was "arguably less frivolous" than Vardireddy's.

Vardireddy had been ordered to be isolated in his Compassvale Close home from Feb 16 to 25.

But he left his flat at around 8.10pm on Feb 24 and went to Compass One mall in Sengkang Square to buy a shaver.

First-time offenders convicted of the offence can be jailed for up to six months and fined up to $10,000. Repeat offenders can be jailed for up to a year and fined up to $20,000.