[Beware!] Someone could be using your car licence plate!
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Two different cars but same licence plates
By GAN LING KAI
FAKE bags and fake watches, sure.
But fake licence plates?
For months, Mr Wei received parking tickets for a place he has never been to.
He thought it strange so he reported it to the authorities.
On Wednesday afternoon, the mystery was finally solved.
Another car owner had made false plates just so he could keep his own car.
The actual owner, Mr Wei, told Shin Min Daily News that since last October, he had been fined three times for parking his car illegally without a season parking coupon around Yishun Street 61.
Mr Wei points to the look alike car carrying the same licence plate as his.
The 30-year-old, who works in the sales industry, said: "I live in Serangoon. I work in Clementi. I don't even go to Yishun.
"So I was very surprised when I received the three traffic tickets. I reported this to the authorities who said they would look into the matter."
Then on Wednesday, he got a call informing him that a parking warden had spotted a car bearing the same licence plate.
He rushed to the open-air car park between Blocks 640 and 641 Yishun St 61.
Sure enough, parked before him was a Mitsubishi - same colour, same licence plate.
He called the police, and a few patrol cars arrived at the scene shortly after, reported Shin Min Daily News.
Man looked familiar
Mr Wei had no clue at that point who owned the look alike car.
Then he spotted the other car owner walking towards the car park.
Said Mr Wei: "I recognised him immediately. He's a valet parking attendant working in the vicinity of Boat Quay. I then alerted the policeman beside me."
Mr Wei said he has been going to the Boat Quay area once or twice every week, and usually uses the valet parking service.
The cops moved in and the other driver didn't put up a struggle.
Shin Min reported that the driver lives in Yishun. He was about to go to work when he was arrested.
The driver of the look alike car being questioned by police.
It was reported that the driver may be facing problems paying his car loan.
He allegedly used the fake licence plate so that his car would not be spotted and subsequently towed away by the finance company.
The car with the fake plates - reportedly with a 2,000cc engine - is more expensive than Mr Wei's, which uses a 1,500cc engine.
Mr Wei's car, which he bought about 18 months ago, is valued at about $65,000, according to the current market rate.
The car with the alleged fake licence plate reportedly uses another type of engine, and costs around $140,000.
The police told The New Paper said it had handed the matter over to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) for further investigations.
This is not the first time someone has been arrested using a fake licence plate.
Last year, Ng Boon Leng, 29, forged his father's licence plate to drive around in a "borrowed" car.
When he did not return the car, the original owner of the Honda Civic reported the incident to the police.
Ng was caught by police in July and jailed for 3 1/2 years in September for theft, among other offences.
Source: http://www.asiaone.com/Motoring/Owne...19-199705.html