American overstayer faces caning
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Oct 21, 2010 - Straits Times
AN AMERICAN businessman is facing the prospect of being caned in Singapore after overstaying his visa by almost half a year, court documents and his lawyer said on Thursday.
If convicted for violating Singapore's immigration laws, US citizen Kamari Kenyada Charlton, 37, could become the first American in 16 years to be caned in the strict city-state.
Kamari, who was born in the Bahamas, was arrested at Changi Airport on Sept 1 when he was about to leave the country, his lawyer M. Ravi said.
A charge sheet issued against him seen by AFP said Kamari had remained in Singapore for an extra 169 days after his three-month social visit pass expired on March 15, 2010.
Under Singapore laws, overstaying for more than 90 days is punishable by a jail term not exceeding six months and a minimum three strokes of the cane.
Kamari, who runs a construction business in the Bahamas, is currently on remand in a local prison, Mr Ravi said.
He had entered Singapore on Dec 15 last year to accompany his wife, who had come to the city-state seeking medical treatment for her pregnancy.
Mr Ravi appealed for a commutation of the American's potential sentence to a fine, citing the case of a relative of Kamari's wife who was fined S$500 for exceeding his visa by 194 days.
But in a written response to Mr Ravi, the Attorney General's Chambers rejected the appeal 'after having carefully considered your representations'. -- AFP
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US EMBASSY MONITORING CASE
The case has caught the attention of US officials.
'The US Embassy is closely monitoring the case and embassy officials have provided consular assistance to this individual, including six visits by consular officials,' a spokesman for the mission told AFP.
If caned Kamari would be the first American to undergo the punishment in Singapore since the widely-publicised case of Michael Fay, an American teenager who was given four strokes of the cane in 1994 for vandalism. -- AFP
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American overstayer.... LOL!!!
Deserve to be caned..... so lazy dun even want to go to the immigration centre just to get a chop! -
must be his wife tell him "at most fine $500 only"..
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Oct 22, 2010 - Straits Times
US man on cheating charge
by Elena Chong
AN AMERICAN accused of overstaying in Singapore was charged on Friday with conspiracy to cheat an Australian in a phone scam.
Kamari Kenyada Charlton, 37, is believed to have been involved in similar cases and was remanded for further investigation.
He was first charged in court early last month for overstaying in Singapore for 169 days after his social visit pass expired in mid-March.
Charlton, who is in remand, is now charged with conspiring with others in Singapore and elsewhere to cheat by making calls to Mr Mirko Prskalo in Australia in March.
He allegedly deceived Mr Prskalo into believing that his nephew and family were in urgent need of funds while in Singapore, and induced him to remit A$17,145 (S$21,821) on four occasions to him in Singapore via the Western Union.
His lawyer, Mr M. Ravi, is no longer acting for him. His new lawyers Hamidul Haq and Thong Chee Kun appeared for him in chambers at a pre-trial conference.
The next pre-trial conference is on Friday.
In an e-mail response to media queries, police said that a police gazette for his arrest had been issued following a number of criminal complaints made against him, including two through Interpol by a foreign Police agency.
Charlton is currently being investigated for cheating-related and money laundering offences arising from these complaints.
The complaints being investigated include alleged cheating of elderly Australians, through a phone scam operation.
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Fail -
might not be caned if repatriated by the Interpol.
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why he like it here so much?
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see his photo, this guy look fierce, nobody mess with him type.