On 26 September 2023, a former religious teacher, Rasman Bin Saridin (“Rasman”), was sentenced to 11 months and 2 weeks imprisonment for the following offences:
- Two counts of criminal breach of trust under Section 406 of the Penal Code;
- One count of forgery for the purpose of cheating under Section 468 of the Penal Code;
- One count of carrying on the business of a travel agent without a license under Section 6(1) read with Section 4(1)(d) and punishable under Section 6(2) of the Travel Agents Act; and
- One count of travelling out of Singapore without the permission of the Official Assignee under Section 131(1)(b) of the Bankruptcy Act.
Rasman had earlier pleaded guilty to these offences, which details are set out below. He had also consented for 17 other charges to be taken into consideration for sentencing.
One count of criminal breach of trust of university course fees from a student
In 2014, Rasman was a director of Azzam Educational & Event Management Services Pte Ltd, which facilitated administration matters and collected payments for students’ enrolment at an Indonesian University. Between November 2014 and October 2016, he collected a total of S$10,330 of university course fees from a student. He dishonestly misappropriated S$7,000 of the collection for his own tour business. In September 2017, the student was subsequently informed by the university that S$7,000 of his course fees were outstanding and he had to make payment to complete the course.
One count of criminal breach of trust of pilgrim tour monies, one count of forgery for the purpose of cheating of an air-ticket booking and one count of carrying on the business of a travel agent without a license
Rasman organised events and carried out marketing for events under a company, Khalifah SG Private Limited (“Khalifah SG”) in 2018. From June 2019, he started advertising through various channels that Khalifah SG was organising pilgrimage tours to Saudi Arabia. This was despite the fact that he did not hold any licence granted by the Singapore Tourism Board, which was required for carrying out the business of a travel agent.
Sometime in October 2019, a pilgrim engaged Rasman’s services for a pilgrimage tour for himself and 19 other pilgrims. Between October and November 2019, the pilgrim handed S$21,850 to Rasman. Rasman was supposed to book air tickets and hotel accommodation with the monies but did not do so, and dishonestly misappropriated the S$21,850. He then created a false air ticket booking showing two flights between Singapore and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) between 15 January 2020 and 24 January 2020 via Saudi Arabian Airlines, purportedly booked under the pilgrim’s name.
Travelling out of Singapore without the permission of the Official Assignee
Rasman was adjudged a bankrupt on 2 November 2017. As a bankrupt, he was not allowed to leave, remain or reside outside Singapore without the permission of the Official Assignee. On 31 July 2018, 2 August 2018 and 9 August 2018, Rasman left Singapore without making the application and obtaining permission from the Official Assignee despite knowing that he had to do so.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
26 September 2023 @ 3:19 PM