Man lied that cops had 'role to play in theft' of $8,000

A man, who was woken up by the presence of two police officers in his home on Dec 12, later claimed his monies totalling $8,000 had gone missing and that the pair "had a role to play" for the loss.

It turned out that he was lying.

Vinesh Kumar Ganesan, a 33-year-old Malaysian, finally admitted on Dec 13 that he had lied.

Deputy Public Prosecutor R. Arvindren said: "He claimed that he was drunk, tired and frustrated at being woken up... which led to the false statements."

Vinesh also committed offences including riding a motorcycle while under the influence of alcohol and without a licence.

Yesterday, he was sentenced to four weeks' jail and a fine of $6,800. He was disqualified from operating all classes of vehicles in Singapore for three years.

He pleaded guilty to four charges, including giving false information to a public servant and riding a motorcycle while under the influence of alcohol.

In the wee hours of Dec 12 last year, two police officers went to Vinesh's home, responding to a case of assault as his roommate had called for assistance.

Vinesh was awoken by the officers' presence at about 3.30am.

The DPP said: "(He) was looking for his bag where he had kept his identification card but was unable to locate his bag... One of the two police officers found the said bag... and handed it to the accused. (He) checked his bag and told the officers his cash amounting to $8,000 was missing."

Vinesh later lodged a report, alleging that either the police officers or his roommate "had a role to play" in stealing the cash.

Following an investigation, he admitted to his lies the next day.

In an unrelated case, the court heard that he drank two cans of beer in Aliwal Street at about 6pm on Aug 11 last year, before he rode a friend's motorcycle to a Bussorah Street eatery nearby.

A dispute later took place and the police were alerted. The DPP said: "(A police officer) interviewed the accused and he informed (the officer) that he had wanted to look for a friend by the name of 'Dinesh' but the staff of the restaurant told him that 'Dinesh' was not working.

"While interviewing the accused, the (officer) observed the accused reeked of alcohol."

A breathalyser test was conducted on Vinesh and he failed it. He did another test and was found to have 72 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath, more than double the prescribed limit of 35mcg.