Teen used joint account with mother to help pimp receive prostitution proceeds

SINGAPORE — Unable to pay a deposit while engaging the services of a prostitute, a 17-year-old boy provided the details of a joint bank account — which he shared with his mother — to the pimp.

The pimp, known only as “Da Ge”, then made use of the teenager’s bank account to receive money collected from people wanting to engage sexual services.

On Wednesday (Jan 24), Koh Qi Jing was convicted of one count of retention of benefits from criminal conduct.

The pimp is still at large.

The court heard that, sometime in May last year, Qi Jing wanted to engage the sexual services of one “Fang Fang”.

They exchanged contact numbers, and arranged to meet in person.

However, Da Ge contacted Qi Jing, telling him that he was the boss of Fang Fang, and demanded S$600 in deposit.

When Qi Jing told him he was unable to pay up, the pimp said he could help raise the money if Qi Jing give him his bank account details.

The teenager, now an Institute of Technical Education student, then gave details of a joint bank account he held with his mother.

“Subsequently, (Koh) was instructed by Da Ge to allow the joint account to be used to receive monies, and (then) use the monies to buy Alipay credits and iTunes cards for Da Ge and hand them to him,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Norman Yew in court on Wednesday (Jan 24).

Qi Jing later opened a second bank account, this time under his name, as he was afraid his mother might discover his illicit activities.

The court heard that, from June 10 to 18 last year, a total of S$38,900 was transferred from six people to the two accounts.

Five of the people paid for sexual services that they did not receive, and the last person paid to meet a girl he knew online but, eventually, did not get to meet at all.

From this amount, S$23,100 was transferred into Qi Jing’s personal account between June 17 and June 18.

He then used the amount to convert it to more than S$12,000 in Alipay credits, and bought S$750 worth of iTunes gift cards for the pimp.

Qi Jing pocketed S$520 for his personal use.

DPP Yew told the court: “At all times, (Qi Jing) believed the money he received in the personal account were benefits of an illegal prostitution ring that Da Ge was involved in.”

Qi Jing’s lawyer Ronald Ng said his client had been attending counselling sessions after his offences.

District Judge May Mesenas ordered for a report to assess the boy’s suitability for probation. He will return to court on Feb 21.