Father-son pair jailed after they flew to Singapore and assaulted businessman over deal turned sour

SINGAPORE – A man and his adult son, who lived in China and flew to Singapore to confront a man over an investment deal that turned sour, will be spending time in jail for assault.

Gao Yong, 50, and his 25-year-old son Gao Zhenhan were on Nov 11 sentenced to 10 weeks’ jail after they pleaded guilty to assaulting the 35-year-old victim, who is from Malaysia.

Court documents showed that the Chinese nationals had plans to open a shop in Singapore. They reached out to a Singaporean in April to apply for work passes for them.

The Singaporean contact then introduced the son to the victim as someone who was looking for investors into his businesses in Singapore.

During subsequent discussions in May, the victim sent his personal details to Gao Zhenhan.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Darren Ang said that the victim, who had financial interests in various food businesses in Singapore, invited the son to invest in one of his beverage shops located in Kent Ridge Medical Centre.

Gao Zhenhan and his father liked the idea. They sold their family car and took bank loans to invest at least $18,000 in the business.

But some time later, the victim told the Chinese nationals that he could not secure work permits for them.

He also failed to return them the money.

The father and son pair travelled to Singapore on Oct 14 to confront the victim. They dropped by his shop but could not locate him, and spent the night as rough sleepers nearby.

The next day, they travelled to VivoCity by train, and spotted the victim at a food court at the basement of the mall.

They approached the victim, who left the stall for his car parked nearby. Gao Yong ran after the victim, swung his hand at the victim’s head and then pushed him inside the car.

His son pushed the victim against a car seat to prevent him from running away.

The pair confronted the Malaysian about the investment and punched him several times, demanding the victim pay them RMB200,000 (S$38,319 according to court documents).

But the victim refused, saying he would give them $5,000 instead. The father rejected the sum and the victim offered $10,000, which the older man also rejected.

Two security officers approached the car to check, and the police were alerted.

The father and son pair were arrested soon after. The DPP said that Wong suffered superficial injuries on his face, neck and shoulders as a result of the assault.

For assault, an offender can be jailed for up to three years, fined up to $5,000, or both.

Shaffiq Alkhatib is The Straits Times’ court correspondent, covering mainly criminal cases heard at the State Courts.