Repeat offender jailed for taking ex-colleague’s salary, using stolen credit cards to spend at night club

SINGAPORE — While his colleague was in hospital, Aldi Hoon Zhen Bao did him a favour by collecting his salary for him, but used the money to pay off his debts to unlicensed moneylenders instead.

In a separate incident, he stole credit cards from an unlocked car and used them to buy about S$3,700 worth of flower garlands at a club in Orchard Towers. The garlands are typically bought to place on hostesses working in the club.

On Friday (June 14), the 25-year-old was sentenced to one year and three weeks’ jail and banned from holding or getting all classes of driving licences for one year.

While he had Indonesian citizenship, he told the court that he has renounced it and is now stateless.

Hoon pleaded guilty on Friday to six charges of criminal breach of trust, theft, cheating and using insulting words towards a public servant. Another 11 similar charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Ben Mathias called him a “recalcitrant and persistent offender”, as he had committed crimes previously.

Hoon was jailed eight months in 2016 for fighting in a public place and being a member of an unlawful assembly, and jailed again for a year in 2017 for cheating.

The court heard that in November 2017, Hoon’s then-colleague, Mr Jonathan Chua, asked Hoon to help collect his salary when he was hospitalised.

They both worked at dance club Violet Vault (Club ViVa) at the now-defunct St James Power Station complex.

Around Nov 5, 2017, Hoon collected Mr Chua’s salary of about S$976 from their company. Mr Chua was discharged from the hospital five days later and repeatedly asked Hoon for his salary, but he had used it to pay off his debts.

He has since made partial restitution of S$666.

Later that year, on Christmas Eve, Hoon stole a wallet from a man who was sleeping outside a pub at St James Power Station. He used the victim’s Mastercard to make two transactions, before discarding the wallet.

Court documents showed that one of the transactions was at a 7-Eleven outlet, where he bought cigarettes, spicy Maggi instant noodles and an instant egg. He also used the card to pay S$22.03 in taxi fares.

The police began investigating Hoon for these offences, but he re-offended again on June 15 last year.

At about 3.30am that day, he found an unlocked car at the multi-storey car park of Orchard Towers.

He got into the car, drove it to Claymore Road, and took two credit cards and the car keys from the vehicle. He then locked the car, went back to Orchard Towers, and proceeded to spend S$3,764 in total on flower garlands at Club Gaga.

He was later arrested and released on bail. However, he re-offended one last time on Nov 20 last year.

He boarded a taxi that day and told the driver to go to Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3, but turned aggressive when the driver tried to wake him up upon arrival.

A police officer came to help after the driver called for assistance. When the officer told Hoon he needed to get out of the taxi and give his particulars, Hoon shouted and repeatedly uttered a vulgarity at him.

Hoon continued to do this even after the officer warned him several times to mind his language. At some point, he waved his passport at the officer when asked for his particulars, before throwing it on the ground and asking the officer to pick it up.

He was eventually arrested.