Sophia Gill was sentenced to three months’ jail after she pleaded guilty. - ST
SINGAPORE: A director at an employment agency told one of her colleagues to hit her before repeatedly lying to the authorities that her former boyfriend had assaulted her.
Sophia Gill, 53, who is also a shareholder at Raffles Human Resource, roped in another then colleague, Nicole Chng Jin Wen, 28, and told the younger woman to memorise a false account that Gill’s former boyfriend had purportedly assaulted both of them.
The two women lodged false police reports on May 24, 2017, and Gill even repeated similar lies to a magistrate
Due to these complaints, police officers recorded three statements from the former boyfriend, the court heard.
On March 4, Gill was sentenced to three months’ jail after she pleaded guilty to one count each of giving false information to a public servant and intentionally giving false evidence during a judicial proceeding.
Two other counts of giving false information to a public servant were considered during sentencing.
Chng, who was an admin officer at Raffles Human Resource at the time of the offences, was sentenced to six weeks’ jail in September 2023 after she admitted to offences including giving false information to a police officer.
Court documents did not disclose if any action has been taken against the then colleague who had rained blows on Gill.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Pei Wei said that Gill and her former boyfriend, 42, were in a relationship from 2015, and they began running a restaurant in Bali Lane, near Arab Street, the following year.
The couple broke up soon after, and he married another woman in January 2017.
Despite this, Gill and the man made multiple police reports against each other from March 31 to May 2017 over alleged instances of harassment and assault.
On April 11 that year, he obtained an expedited protection order against Gill to prevent her from contacting him and his wife. The order is issued when there is an imminent danger to the parties involved.
The order expired on May 8 that year, and he was granted another one 15 days later.
But Gill and Chng turned up at the restaurant at around 5pm on May 23, and the former lovers had a verbal dispute.
The man repeatedly told the two women to leave the eatery, but the pair refused. He then stepped out and locked the main door of the restaurant, leaving them inside.
Gill and Chng called the police multiple times from around 5.15pm, and he unlocked the door when officers arrived 20 minutes later.
The women lied to the officers, claiming that the man had assaulted them.
Later that day, Gill told one Diangkinay Reywin Bunquin, then assistant general manager at Raffles Human Resource, to meet her and Chng at a carpark.
The DPP told the court: “The accused then indicated that she intended to lodge a police report against (her former boyfriend) for assault and told Reywin to hit her, so she could pretend that the resulting injuries had been caused by (him).
“Reywin complied by punching and kicking the accused, causing bruises on her left upper arm and right leg. The accused also told Chng to memorise a false account that the former boyfriend had assaulted them both...earlier that day and convey this to the authorities.”
Chng and Gill went to Tan Tock Seng Hospital at about 8pm on May 23, and told doctors that they had been assaulted.
The two women lodged false police reports against Gill’s former boyfriend the next day. Gill also lodged a magistrate’s complaint against him on May 30.
Her offences came to light when Chng gave a further statement to the police two months later.
The DPP said: “(Chng) recanted the false statements she had previously given to the police and admitted to having made them on the accused’s instructions.
“Chng told the police that she resolved to tell the truth after her last day of work at (Raffles Human Resource on June 30, 2017) as the accused had told Chng that (the accused) would pay her salary once she did as...instructed.” - The Straits Times/ANN
