SINGAPORE, July 29 — A former Singapore Armed Forces captain was reportedly jailed for 21 months and two weeks today after cheating five colleagues of nearly S$87,000 (RM275,419) and committing several vaping-related offences.

Singapore’s The Straits Times reported that Benjamin Song Yong Pang, 38, was also fined S$6,000 after pleading guilty to five cheating charges and four charges involving e-vaporisers.

Song, who has since made full restitution, reportedly deceived the colleagues on more than 39 occasions between May 2021 and March 2024 by claiming he would invest their money or needed funds for his mother’s medical bills.

The five, many of whom were his subordinates, handed him a total of S$86,750, with individual losses ranging from S$10,000 to S$27,050.

Court documents reportedly showed that Song had accumulated significant credit-card debt between 2011 and 2018 through visits to Thai clubs and karaoke lounges while serving as a deputy cluster commander at a supply base.

Investigations also found that he openly vaped at his office in Nee Soon Camp, recruited subordinates to obtain vaping products for him and created a workplace culture in which vaping became normalised.

The Health Sciences Authority said one subordinate helped Song because he was afraid to refuse a superior officer, while Song also reportedly introduced a female colleague to vaping by giving her a device and vape pods.