Nightclub worker fined for tipping off other clubs about police raids

SINGAPORE — An employee of Club Nexus was fined S$3,000 on Friday (Sept 2) for tipping off employees of other nightclubs about police raids so that they could avoid getting caught for committing offences.

Mervin Yeoh Wei Kian, 36, who was working as a public relations manager at the nightclub in Oriental Plaza along New Bridge Road, pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice. 

Yeoh belonged to a network of nightclub employees who use chat groups to tip each other off about police raids.

He was the 10th to be dealt with by the court out of 22 men who were charged in July with obstruction of justice for the tip-offs on the chat groups.

The court heard that Yeoh was a member of the “Night Owl” chat group on messaging application WhatsApp, which comprises mostly nightclub security officers and employees.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Foong Ke Hui said that they would send tip-off messages alerting other members of law enforcement operations, or forward such messages from other persons.

They generally knew of the operations when raids were conducted at their workplaces, or when they spotted police vehicles in the vicinity.

Using code words and abbreviations, they would alert other members about the licence plate numbers of the police vehicles spotted, the location of the enforcement checks, the size of the raiding teams and the specific unit or department doing the checks.

Yeoh admitted to sending one such message at 3.14am on Jan 1 in 2019 stating simply: “Nexus on light.”

The message meant that enforcement operations were being carried out at Club Nexus.

DPP Foong sought a fine of at least S$3,000, which she said was in line with the other nine co-accused persons who have committed offences involving the same chat groups. 

The nine are: Lim Poh Kian, Daniel Seet Joo Tong, Ang Whay Chong, Wilson Soon Jien Yang, Abdul Hadi Zainuddin, Muhammad Rashidi Rashid, Brandon Chung, Muhammad Rasyidi Safiee and Aaron Chua Jun Hao.

They had each been fined between S$3,000 and S$9,000. Two of them were also given jail time — Muhammad Rashidi who was jailed for two weeks and Chua for 17 weeks.

DPP Foong noted that Yeoh’s acts were likely to disrupt law enforcement operations at the nightclubs nearby and could thwart the detection of any offence committed at those nightclubs.

She added that the network of nightclub security officers and employees showed significant organisation and some degree of syndication in the criminal conduct.

Yeoh, who did not have a lawyer, made no submission in mitigation.

For obstructing the course of justice, he could have been jailed for up to seven years or fined, or both.