Teen gets reformative training for trafficking Kpods, kicking 84-year-old woman

The teenager also worked as a runner for a money laundering group, withdrawing S$19,000 from six UOB bank accounts.

File photo of vape pens. (Photo: iStock/Yaroslav Litun)

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SINGAPORE: A teenager who committed several offences, including kicking an 84-year-old woman in a wheelchair and trafficking Kpods, was sentenced to a minimum of 12 months' reformative training on Monday (Sep 7).

His other offences involved working as a runner for a money laundering group and driving without a licence.

He pleaded guilty to seven charges, including trafficking etomidate and transferring benefits from criminal conduct. Another 17 charges were taken into consideration.

The teenager cannot be named under the Children and Young Persons Act as he was under 18 when some of the offences were committed.

The prosecution had earlier called for a pre-sentencing report to assess the teen's suitability for reformative training, saying probation was not a realistic option given the facts of the case.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Ernest Goh said in written submissions that the teen's offences were "extremely serious in nature".

He added that the teen had committed a large number of offences over a substantial period from Feb 28 to Oct 16, 2025, often while on bail, "underscoring his recalcitrance and utter disregard for the law".

The prosecution also noted that the teen had previously breached a probation order and was subsequently detained at the Singapore Boys' Home. He reoffended less than a year after his release.

"A sentence of probation would not give sufficient effect to the significant degree of deterrence required in the present case," he said.

On Monday, the court heard that the teen was found suitable for reformative training. District Judge Kamala Ponnampalam told the youth that he required targeted intervention and was assessed to be physically and mentally fit to undergo reformative training.

The teen was also disqualified from holding or obtaining any class of driving licence for two years from the date of his release.

While the prosecution sought a three-year disqualification from driving, the judge said she gave a "concession" as he was a youth offender. But she reminded him that the concession would not be granted should he reoffend.

According to court documents, the teen had never held a driving licence authorising him to drive a motor vehicle.

However, he purchased a "ghost car" - cars without a valid Certificate of Entitlement (COE) - after coming across an advertisement on the messaging app Telegram.

He bought the car for S$2,500 (US$1,970) because such cars were cheaper and easier to buy than those with valid COEs. The car's registration under the Road Traffic Act had previously been cancelled on Aug 31, 2025.

The teen drove the car on at least six occasions. On one occasion, he drove at 95kmh on a road with a speed limit of 70kmh.

At about 10pm on Oct 15, 2025, after earlier consuming etomidate, he drove the car to Ang Mo Kio to pick up his girlfriend, who was 16 at the time. He then drove towards Causeway Point to visit a restaurant in the area.

But after exiting the Bukit Timah Expressway near Woodlands Checkpoint, he found himself on a road leading to the checkpoint and was unable to switch lanes because there were vehicles on both sides.

At past midnight on Oct 16, 2025, he drove into Woodlands Checkpoint and was subjected to vehicle checks. During the search, ICA officers found 124 vaporiser pods containing liquid, along with other vaporisers and pods. The items were subsequently seized by officers from the Health Sciences Authority (HSA).

Tests later found that all 124 pods contained etomidate. The teen intended to sell them for S$75 each, giving them a street value of about S$9,300.

The teen was arrested by HSA officers and was escorted to the police station to provide his urine samples. His urine tested positive for etomidate. He had consumed the drug by smoking Kpods bought through Telegram.

HSA officers also searched his house and found five vaporiser pods containing liquid.

Separately, in or around April 2025, the teen became acquainted with an unknown person referred to as "John Wick" on Telegram.

John Wick told him that a group from overseas was seeking to launder money and needed runners to withdraw cash from ATMs in Singapore.

The job offered commissions of up to S$2,000 for every S$100,000 withdrawn. Finding the deal lucrative, the teen agreed to act as a runner.

He was instructed to download an NFC mobile application via an APK link, allowing the app to be installed on an Android device outside official app stores and bypassing standard security checks. John Wick provided him with the login credentials.

The downloaded app functioned as a digital wallet that interfaced with ATM systems using compromised bank account details.

The teen was also told to download another app known as Voov, which was used for video calls with the money laundering operatives. They linked compromised bank cards to the teen's digital wallet and guided him in real time during the withdrawals while monitoring the ATM transactions through a live video feed.

On the night of Apr 3, 2025, the teen told his friend about the runner job and said he needed his assistance. His friend agreed to help.

Between Apr 3, 2025 and Apr 4, 2025, the teen and his friend went to various UOB ATMs to withdraw cash. Before each withdrawal, the teen launched the Voov app and followed the instructions given to him.

Once the digital details of a UOB debit card were added to the NFC app, the teen would place his handphone near the ATM’s NFC reader to access the relevant account and withdraw cash.

The two teens did not have the account holders' consent to access the accounts and dishonestly intended to withdraw cash without UOB's consent, court documents stated.

While the teen withdrew the cash, his friend acted as a lookout. In total, the teen withdrew S$19,000 from six UOB accounts. His friend later handed over S$8,000 to an unknown person, while the teen handed over the remaining S$11,000 on a separate occasion.

The teen was paid about S$750 for acting as a runner and he gave S$250 to his friend for helping out.

In another incident on May 7, 2025, the teen approached an 84-year-old woman in a wheelchair and her 60-year-old daughter and asked them to send him home. The mother and daughter were heading to take a bus to the older woman's daycare centre.

When the daughter refused, the teen became angry and punched a metal bollard. He then kicked the older woman's wheelchair as well as her left shoulder and head before walking away. The woman was found to have suffered contusions to her shoulder, neck and face.

The teen is scheduled to begin his reformative training on Sep 22. He asked the court to defer his sentence until after the release of his exam results on Sep 21, as he needed to apply to pause his studies and could only do so after knowing his results.

For trafficking a Class C controlled drug such as etomidate, the punishment ranges from two to 10 years' jail and two to five strokes of the cane.

For transferring benefits from criminal conduct, a person could be fined up to S$500,000, jailed up to 10 years, or both.

The punishment for voluntarily causing hurt is a jail term of up to three years, a fine of up to S$5,000 or both. If the offender knew or should have known the victim was a vulnerable person, they may be sentenced to up to twice the maximum punishment.

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这名青少年还曾为洗钱集团跑腿，从六个大华银行账户中提取了 19,000 新元。

电子烟笔的资料照片。（图片：iStock/Yaroslav Litun）

这段音频由人工智能工具生成。

新加坡：一名青少年犯下多项罪行，包括踢打一名坐在轮椅上的 84 岁老妇和贩卖 Kpods，周一（9 月 7 日）被判处至少 12 个月的改造训练。

他的其他罪行包括为洗钱集团跑腿和无证驾驶。

他承认了七项指控，包括贩运依托咪酯和转移犯罪所得。另有17项指控被纳入考虑范围。

根据《儿童和青少年法》，这名青少年不能被公开姓名，因为他在犯下某些罪行时未满 18 岁。

检方此前要求提交一份判刑前报告，以评估这名青少年是否适合接受改造训练，并表示鉴于案件事实，缓刑并非一个现实的选择。

副检察官吴恩斯特在书面陈述中表示，这名青少年的罪行“性质极其严重”。

他还补充说，这名青少年在 2025 年 2 月 28 日至 10 月 16 日的相当长一段时间内犯下了大量罪行，而且经常是在保释期间犯案，“这凸显了他的顽固不化和对法律的彻底漠视”。

检方还指出，这名少年此前曾违反缓刑令，随后被关押在新加坡少年之家。获释不到一年，他就再次犯罪。

他说：“缓刑判决不足以达到本案所需的显著威慑效果。”

周一，法庭获悉，这名青少年被认定适合接受改造训练。地区法官卡马拉·蓬南帕拉姆告诉这名青少年，他需要接受针对性的干预，经评估，他的身心状况适合接受改造训练。

该青少年还被禁止在获释之日起两年内持有或取得任何类型的驾驶执照。

检方要求判处被告三年吊销驾照，但法官表示，考虑到被告是青少年罪犯，她给予了“宽大处理”。不过，法官也提醒被告，如果他再次犯罪，这项宽大处理将不予执行。

根据法庭文件，这名青少年从未持有过驾驶执照，因此没有驾驶机动车辆的资格。

然而，他在即时通讯应用 Telegram 上看到一则广告后，购买了一辆“幽灵车”——没有有效拥车证 (COE) 的汽车。

他以2500新元（约合1970美元）的价格买下了这辆车，因为这类车比持有有效拥车证的车辆更便宜、更容易购买。该车此前已于2025年8月31日根据《道路交通法》注销登记。

这名青少年至少六次驾驶过这辆车。其中一次，他在限速70公里/小时的道路上以95公里/小时的速度行驶。

2025年10月15日晚上10点左右，他早些时候服用了依托咪酯，之后开车前往宏茂桥接他当时16岁的女友。然后他开车前往长堤坊，去附近的一家餐馆吃饭。

但当他从兀兰关卡附近的武吉知马高速公路出口驶出后，发现自己身处一条通往关卡的道路上，由于两侧都有车辆，他无法变换车道。

2025年10月16日凌晨过后，他驾车驶入兀兰关卡，接受车辆检查。搜查过程中，移民与关卡局（ICA）官员查获124个装有液体的电子烟烟弹，以及其他电子烟和烟弹。这些物品随后被卫生科学局（HSA）官员没收。

事后检测发现，所有124个胶囊都含有依托咪酯。这名青少年打算每个胶囊以75新元的价格出售，总价约为9300新元。

这名青少年被卫生安全局官员逮捕，并被押送至警察局提供尿样。他的尿检结果呈依托咪酯阳性。他通过吸食从 Telegram 购买的 Kpods 吸食了这种毒品。

卫生安全局官员还搜查了他的住所，发现了五个装有液体的电子烟烟弹。

另外，大约在 2025 年 4 月，这名青少年在 Telegram 上结识了一位名叫“John Wick”的陌生人。

约翰·威克告诉他，一个海外团伙试图洗钱，需要有人到新加坡的自动取款机取款。

这份工作承诺每提取10万新元，就能获得高达2000新元的佣金。这名少年觉得这笔交易很划算，于是同意做跑腿的。

他被指示通过APK链接下载一款NFC移动应用程序，这样就可以在官方应用商店之外将应用程序安装到安卓设备上，从而绕过标准的安全检查。约翰·威克向他提供了登录凭证。

下载的应用程序充当数字钱包，利用被盗用的银行账户信息与 ATM 系统进行交互。

这名青少年还被告知下载另一款名为 Voov 的应用程序，该程序用于与洗钱团伙进行视频通话。他们将盗用的银行卡与这名青少年的电子钱包关联起来，并在取款过程中实时指导他，同时通过实时视频监控 A​​TM 交易。

2025年4月3日晚，这名少年告诉他的朋友他需要找份跑腿的工作，并表示需要朋友帮忙。他的朋友同意帮忙。

2025年4月3日至4日期间，这名青少年和他的朋友多次前往大华银行（UOB）的自动取款机取款。每次取款前，这名青少年都会打开Voov应用程序，并按照屏幕上的指示操作。

将大华银行借记卡的数字详细信息添加到 NFC 应用程序后，这名青少年会将手机靠近 ATM 的 NFC 读卡器，以访问相关账户并提取现金。

法庭文件显示，这两名青少年未经账户持有人同意擅自访问账户，并意图在未经大华银行同意的情况下提取现金。

这名少年取款时，他的朋友负责放风。他总共从六个大华银行账户中取出19,000新元。之后，他的朋友将其中8,000新元交给了一名身份不明的人，而这名少年则在另一次场合交出了剩余的11,000新元。

这名少年因充当跑腿而获得了约 750 新元的报酬，他还给了帮忙的朋友 250 新元。

另一起事件发生在2025年5月7日，这名少年接近一位坐在轮椅上的84岁老妇和她60岁的女儿，要求她们送他回家。当时，这对母女正准备乘公交车去老妇人所在的日托中心。

女儿拒绝后，少年恼羞成怒，一拳打在金属路障上。随后，他又踢了老妇人的轮椅，以及她的左肩和头部，然后扬长而去。经查，老妇人的肩部、颈部和面部均有挫伤。

这名青少年定于9月22日开始接受改造训练。他请求法庭将判决推迟到9月21日考试成绩公布之后，因为他需要申请暂停学业，而只有在知道成绩后才能这样做。

贩运依托咪酯等 C 类管制药物，刑罚为 2 至 10 年监禁和 2 至 5 下鞭笞。

对于转移犯罪所得的行为，个人可能被处以最高 50 万新元的罚款、最高 10 年的监禁，或两者并罚。

故意伤害他人的处罚是最高三年监禁、最高5000新元罚款或两者并罚。如果犯罪者明知或应知受害者是弱势群体，则刑罚最高可达最高刑罚的两倍。

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