Indian-Origin Man Gets 6 Weeks Jail For Cheating In Singapore

An Indian-origin Singaporean was sentenced to six weeks in jail after he pleaded guilty to six charges, including five for cheating by impersonation at hospitals and polyclinics across the city state for medical treatment for back pain.

Instead of registering as himself, Logeswaran Mohandas, 42, posed as his brother and an acquaintance, who ended up being charged for his medical bills.

Logeswaran had another 19 charges – most of which were for similar offences – taken into consideration in his sentencing, according to a report by The Straits Times.

The court heard that the various bills with the hospitals have since been settled, and that Logeswaran has repaid his brother via instalments while his acquaintance did not wish for any restitution.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Chan Yi Cheng said Logeswaran and his acquaintance, who first met him at a temple, had not seen each other since 2011.

Since then, Logeswaran would occasionally contact the acquaintance to borrow money.

In 2015, Logeswaran contacted the acquaintance and asked for a copy of his identity card and name card, claiming that he could register him as a transport contractor with the hotel that he was working for at the time.

After the acquaintance sent photographs of his identity card and name card, Logeswaran did not contact him with any job opportunities at the hotel.

Instead, Logeswaran visited hospitals and clinics on eight occasions between April 29, 2016, and March 6, 2018.

Giving his acquaintance's identity card number to the hospital staff for registration, Logeswaran consulted a doctor for his back pain fow which he was given medication.

Logeswaran incurred bills totalling SGD 421.74 for eight health issues. The acquaintance, who received multiple letters informing him of the outstanding medical bills, notified the police.

Logeswaran had similarly impersonated his brother on nine occasions at the National University Hospital (NUH) between May 1, 2018, and September 16, 2019, and incurred bills totalling SGD 945.35.

After receiving bills from NUH, Logeswaran's brother filed a police report on February 10, 2020.

District judge Lim Tse Haw said while a fine may appear sufficient, given the amounts involved in each charge of cheating was small, the totality of Logeswaran's conduct justified a jail term.

The various hospitals and polyclinics that Logeswaran had targeted accepted him in good faith, the judge said, adding that if they were to tighten their procedures following the offences, it would create a lot of inconvenience for genuine patients. 

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