A secondary school teacher was found guilty today of printing two counterfeit Singapore $100 dollar notes and using them to pay for the massage services of a Vietnamese woman, whom he testified he had sex with.
During an eight-day trial, the teacher – 44-year-old Daniel Wong Mun Meng – claimed that he had photocopied and printed the $100 dollar notes at home, to use it as a teaching tool during his maths class at Bukit Batok Secondary School. He said in court:
“In late July 2015, I photocopied two $100 notes of the same serial number using my home printer and ordinary A4-sized paper. It was an experiment to use it as a teaching tool, to excite and engage the students during my maths class because I believe many of them have not seen a $100 note before.”
On why he picked a $100 note, the ex-teacher explained he chose the denomination since it depicts various uniformed groups in Singapore schools:
“Since it was SG50, I wanted to infuse national education in my subject.”
The court heard that Wong carried the two fake notes in his wallet when he went to meet masseuse Nguyen Nhu Trang at Orchard Towers on 3 August 2015. Deputy Public Prosecutor Asoka Markandu said that the pair were sitting in Wong’s car after they had negotiated a price for her services, where Wong showed the counterfeit money to Trang before placing it inside her handbag himself.
The pair subsequently checked in at a Fragrance Hotel branch in Balestier Road around 2.45am that day and checked out about an hour later. Wong testified in court: “She provided a full body massage for me and thereafter, we had sex.”
However, Trang disputed this and claimed that she only gave him an oil massage.
The pair parted ways after Wong dropped Trang off in Kim Yam Road near River Valley Road that morning. He testified that it was only after he had dropped her off that he realised he had “mistakenly” given her the counterfeit notes. He told the court that he immediately went back to the drop off location but was unable to locate or contact her.
Wong’s lawyer, Ms Melanie Ho, argued that Wong had given Trang the fake currency by mistake and it had been an “accidental use.”
Meanwhile, Trang later tried to use the counterfeit money to make a purchase at a supermarket where she was caught by an alert cashier. Following an investigation, police officers nabbed Wong at Bukit Batok Secondary School on 20 Aug 2015.
Bukit Batok Secondary School subsequently suspended Wong from duty in December that year. A Ministry of Education (MOE) spokesman said:
“MOE takes a serious view of educator misconduct and will not hesitate to take disciplinary action against those who fail to adhere to our standards of conduct and discipline.”
Presently out on bail, Wong will return to court for sentencing on a later date. He could be jailed for a maximum of 20 years and fined for his offence.