Man charged with drugging woman at Queenstown Polyclinic to steal cash from her

SINGAPORE — Oh Koon Shin was charged at first with stealing S$2,500 in cash from a woman at Queenstown Polyclinic.

On Thursday (Sept 26), the 58-year-old was handed four more charges — one of causing the same woman to take Zopiclone, a sleeping pill, with the intent to commit theft.

Court documents did not state how the man allegedly did this on Sept 9.

Oh has been in the news before when he used similar tactics in the past.

In 2013, he was jailed two years after he stole from two women over two days at Jurong Polyclinic in December 2012.

For one of them, a 62-year-old retiree, he convinced her to take diazepam, a stupefying drug, and after she became drowsy, he stole her belongings, including a ring on her finger.

He also stole a necklace from another woman after he asked her to take two pills.

He is now accused of more offences on Thursday:

• Stealing S$1,000 and 800 yuan (S$155) in cash, a gold bracelet worth S$4,000, rings and earrings worth S$1,000, and a gold necklace with a Buddha pendant valued at S$2,000. He purportedly stole the items from a flat at Block 210, Boon Lay Place on July 9.

• Stealing a wallet, S$2, a gold bangle worth S$770 and house keys from someone at an open area in front of Block 312A, Jurong East Avenue 1 on Aug 31.

• Stealing S$400 worth of items such as a jade necklace and gold rings from someone in the Queensway area on Sept 6.

Oh, who does not have a lawyer, had spent the past two weeks in the Institute of Mental Health for psychiatric evaluation. A report stated that he suffers from depression but that it had no link to his offences.

District Judge Adam Nakhoda allowed him to be released on bail of S$25,000, but Oh said in Mandarin through an interpreter that he could not afford it and that he had no family to help him post bail.

He remains in remand because of that.

He told the judge that after his son committed suicide a few years ago and his mother died this year, he began committing offences.

He had paid S$8,000 as a deposit to put their ashes side by side, but he now wants to “take back the deposit to pay back the victims”.

The police prosecutor told the court that Oh will likely face more charges when he returns on Oct 10.

If convicted of causing someone to take a stupefying drug with the intention to cause hurt, Oh could be jailed up to 10 years and fined. While offenders could also be caned, those above 50 years old are spared this penalty by law.