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TODAY

A man in Singapore has admitted renting out a flat so that a woman who would soon become his lover could work as a prostitute there.
Lim Meng Hwee, 29, pleaded guilty on Friday to one charge of using a rental unit as a brothel and one charge of deceiving the unit’s landlord over the intended use of the property.
One charge of obstructing the course of justice by deleting text messages containing evidence was taken into consideration for sentencing.
District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt sentenced Lim to 11 weeks’ jail.
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Court documents redacted the name of his 36-year-old lover, who is also a witness in the case.
Lim met the woman on the messaging app WeChat in December 2019 and from June 2020, the two engaged in a romantic relationship.
Just before that, in May 2020, the woman asked Lim to rent a housing unit on her behalf. Court documents redacted the location of the unit.
At that time, Lim suspected that she intended to use the unit for the purpose of prostitution.
His suspicion was confirmed when he found advertisements posted by the woman promoting her sexual services on several vice-related websites.


Lim confronted the woman and she admitted that she worked as a sex worker.
Still, he agreed to rent the unit on her behalf, despite knowing that she intended to use it for prostitution.
She told him not to rent a flat if it was guarded by a security guard.
He understood that this was because she wanted to ensure that her customers could enter the unit without arousing suspicion.
On May 24, 2020, Lim met the owner of the unit, Gary Ching Hiang Chye, to sign a lease agreement. The rental period was from May 25 to August 24 that year.
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He told Ching that he intended to live in the flat, and that he would observe the terms of the lease agreement.
Among the terms was that Lim was not to assign, sublet or part with the possession of the unit to other individuals without Ching’s consent. He was also not allowed to use the flat for illegal activities.
That night, Lim helped the woman to move into the flat.
The next day, she began to use the unit as a brothel by providing her customers with sexual services. She offered those services until four days before the end of the rental period.
Throughout this period, Lim knew that she was providing sexual services in the unit as she would tell him not to enter the unit whenever she had a customer over.

On 10 separate occasions, her customers deposited a total of S$700 (US$520) in his bank account, in return for her sexual services.
He used her earnings to pay the apartment’s Wi-fi and utility bills.
Her customers would contact her through social messaging apps and obtain her contact details from her profile on various vice-related websites, and request her sexual services.
She would then arrange to meet them at the unit.
Lim’s offences were uncovered in a police raid on the unit on August 20, 2020. He was arrested on August 10 last year.
In court on Friday, prosecutors sought between 11 and 14 weeks’ jail on the basis of deterrence, saying there was strong public interest in deterring dishonest tenancies.
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Lim knew the unit would be used as a brothel, prosecutors said, and he obstructed the course of justice by deleting messages that could be used as evidence.
These messages would have revealed his intention of using the unit as a brothel.
Defence lawyers Pratap Kishan and Jasmine Yan Ziyun did not seek a specific sentence, but they sought a “fair sentence” for Lim.
In mitigation, Kishan said: “Lim has admitted to the offences without qualification at the earliest available opportunity. He is seeking the court to consider that he is a first-time offender and for the court to grant a fair sentence.”
Anyone convicted of cheating and dishonestly inducing a person to deliver a property can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined, while tenants who are first-time offenders using their rental unit as a brothel may be jailed for up to five years, fined up to S$100,000 (US$74,900) or both.


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Singapore jails man for renting flat for his lover to use as a brothel

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Lim Meng Hwee agreed to rent the unit on the woman’s behalf despite knowing that she intended to use it for prostitution, the court heard
On 10 separate occasions, her customers deposited a total of US$520 in Lim’s bank account, in return for her sexual services


Lim Meng Hwee agreed to rent the unit on the woman’s behalf despite knowing that she intended to use it for prostitution, the court heard.


Crime