• Sally Lai Guek Ling and her husband Kenny Tay targeted one of her property clients
• Tay gave a S$30,000 loan but did not tell the client he would charge an interest rate of 260 per cent
• When Lai bribed the client and her husband, she was charged but absconded midway through the trial

SINGAPORE — She first conspired with her husband to carry out loan-shark activities, taking advantage of her job as a property agent to target a client.

When he was charged and claimed trial for his alleged offences, Sally Lai Guek Ling bribed or promised to bribe the client and her husband with almost S$6,000, so they would give false testimony.

However, Lai herself was later charged with bribing a witness. In the midst of her trial, she was granted permission to travel to Malaysia but ultimately failed to turn up in court again.

For her actions, the 45-year-old woman was sentenced to two years’ jail and a fine of S$78,000 on Friday (Oct 30).

She pleaded guilty to four charges that included carrying on an unlicensed moneylending business. Another four charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.

The sentence was backdated to Jan 14 this year, when she returned to Singapore and was placed in remand.

The court heard that she was hired by Ms Salinah Ahmad and her husband, Mr Sazali Ramli, to sell their flat in 2012.

The couple were facing financial difficulties at the time and had told Lai about it.

CHARGED OUTRAGEOUS INTEREST RATE

In May 2012, Lai introduced the couple to her husband, Kenny Tay Ann Siang. She told them that he could help them with their financial problems.

She also said that he could provide Ms Salinah with a loan, to be repaid with proceeds from selling the flat. She did not tell them what the amount of interest on the loan would be.

The couple agreed to the proposal as they needed the cash.

Tay then lent them S$30,000 over the next few months, which they used to settle their personal debts and expenses.

Around the end of August 2012, Lai sold the couple’s flat for about S$270,000. 

However, she and her husband claimed about S$108,000 from the sales proceeds after charging an interest rate of about 260 per cent.

In 2014, a senior manager from the Council of Estate Agencies filed a police report over the sale. 

The police began investigating Lai and Tay before charging Tay with illegal moneylending offences, including over the loan he gave Ms Salinah.

Tay’s trial was set to begin in March 2016, but a year before that, Lai contacted Ms Salinah and asked for her help in the trial.

Between June and July in 2015, Lai promised to pay Ms Salinah S$3,000 if she agreed to provide false testimony and take the blame away from Tay.

Court documents showed that on three other occasions, Lai also bribed Ms Salinah and her husband with another S$2,900.

Ms Salinah then signed a false statutory declaration prepared by Lai.

It read: “I now realise that Mr Kenny Tay has not charged me any interest at all. Without my knowledge, my husband had taken a loan of $80,000 from Mr Kenny Tay. I found a document in my house, which show that my husband had taken a loan of $80,000 from Mr Kenny Tay.”

Tay’s trial is now pending.

HAS BEEN DEPRESSED FOR 20 YEARS

In April 2017, Lai was charged with bribing witnesses. Court documents did not state how her offences came to light.

She claimed trial and began contesting the charges in June 2018.

However, on the 13th day of the trial, she applied to leave Singapore and attend to “work-related” matters in Malaysia. A judge granted the application on the condition that she return by Dec 19, 2018.

When she did not turn up in court, a warrant of arrest was issued against her.

She remained overseas until January 2020.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Chong Yonghui asked for 27 months’ jail and the S$78,000 fine that was eventually imposed, saying that she had pleaded guilty after absconding.

Her lawyer, Mr Thong Chee Kun from Rajah & Tann, told the court in mitigation that she has suffered from a major depressive disorder for almost 20 years. 

She apologised to the court and the prosecution for “all the problems she has caused”.

“A lot of her actions were affected by the way she thought about the whole matter, by her desire to protect her family.

“On the absconding charge, we wish to highlight that she made the difficult decision to surrender herself voluntarily to the Singapore authorities,” the lawyer said.

She was separated from her children during this period and cannot afford any fine, he added.

In sentencing Lai, District Judge John Ng told her: “I think the moment you stopped running, you already started… towards the road to recovering your life. 

“Even after the sentence is passed, within the year, you should be able to put this behind you and as you wish, look after your children and focus on them. Please make your life in order after that.”