Three men probed over false police reports

Police are investigating whether three men, who separately claimed to have been a victim of a crime, made false reports.

In the first case, a 46-year-old man told the police he was robbed in Marsiling Lane on Aug 26.

He claimed that an unknown man holding a sharp object had robbed him of $700.

However, officers from Jurong Police Division found inconsistencies in his report. According to preliminary investigations, the man had, in fact, misplaced the money.

He made the police report to account for it to his wife, a police statement said yesterday.

In the second case, a 27-year-old man made a police report last Saturday that his motorcycle had been stolen in Woodlands Ring Road.

Initial investigations showed that the man had lent his motorcycle to a friend. But as he was concerned that his friend might have committed offences while using the motorcycle, he filed a police report so he would not be implicated.

In the third case, reported on Tuesday, a 25-year-old man told the police his motorcycle had been stolen from a multi-storey carpark in Whampoa Drive.

But according to preliminary investigations, the man had sold his motorcycle on online marketplace Carousell, but had not transferred ownership of the vehicle. He is believed to have made a false report because the buyer had committed multiple traffic offences while riding the motorcycle.

Police investigations are ongoing.

"The police would like to remind the public that police resources could have been put to better use in dealing with real crimes and emergencies than investigating false reports or false information," the police statement said.

Anyone convicted of giving any information which he knows to be false to a public servant can be jailed for up to one year, fined up to $5,000 or both.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on September 15, 2018, with the headline Three men probed over false police reports. Subscribe