Maserati driver facing a litany of traffic charges
SINGAPORE: A Maserati driver allegedly involved in a hit-and-run accident last month was slapped with 15 additional charges.
This brings the total number of charges Lee Cheng Yan faces to 23, including one which accuses him of hitting Staff Sergeant Khairulanwar Kahar on Nov 17 while driving the car. His latest charges, the fourth set against him, are mainly for traffic offences.
Before he allegedly committed them, he had been banned from holding or obtaining a driving licence for nine months – from July 4 to April 3 next year. Court documents did not state what this disqualification was for.
Yesterday, he was charged with three more counts of driving while under disqualification.
Despite the ban, he purportedly drove a car on three separate occa-
DPP Quek Jing Feng
sions to Kaki Bukit Road 2 and Potong Pasir Avenue 3 between Nov 9 and 16. He is said to have done so without insurance.
Lee, 34, was also charged yesterday with nine other offences that include failing to stop and render assistance after his car allegedly hit Staff Sgt Khairulanwar, 26, in Bedok Reservoir Road.
Among the nine charges, he is also accused of perverting the course of justice on Nov 17. After the accident, he purportedly aban- doned the car in Willow Avenue near Upper Aljunied Road. He is also said to have thrown away a white T-shirt that he was wearing, to thwart police investigations against him.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Quek Jing Feng told the court yesterday that investigations into Lee – involving the Criminal Investigation Department and the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau – are ongoing.
DPP Quek added: “The current charges are not the full set.”
According to Lee’s earlier charges, he is accused of sending three threatening text messages to two men between May and July.
On July 6, Lee allegedly duped an employee of a car rental company into believing that he had a valid Class 3 driving licence.
As a result, the employee is said to have rented him a car – not the Maserati – for 29 days.
On Aug 4, Lee purportedly drove the rented car in Shaw Road, near Upper Paya Lebar, while he was banned from holding or obtaining a driving licence.
Lee is also accused of driving the rented car on Aug 4 without insurance.
He was still under disqualification when his Maserati allegedly hit Staff Sgt Khairulanwar, 26, in Bedok Reservoir Road.
The police said Staff Sgt Khairulanwar had stopped Lee’s vehicle during enforcement checks.
As he approached the car, Lee allegedly reversed and accelerated forward, hitting him.
The officer is said to have been left clinging to the driver’s door and dragged for about 100m before falling onto the road. —
The current charges are not the full set.