SINGAPORE, March 7 — The boatman who is accused of assisting in the escape bid of former City Harvest Church (CHC) fund manager Chew Eng Han was slapped with a new charge today, also for abetting someone to illegally flee to Malaysia.

This makes it Tan Poh Teck’s third charge under the Immigration Act. He was granted bail of S$25,000 (RM74,119), and will next appear in court on March 29.

Court documents showed that Tan, 53, abetted a man known as Goh Chun Kiat to illegally leave Singapore on August17 last year at about 9.30am.

Tan allegedly transported Goh on a motorised boat from a beach near Changi to the vicinity of a fish farm near Pulau Ubin, where Goh took another boat that left for Malaysia. It is not known who Goh is.

Tan was first charged on February 22 for helping Chew escape Singapore from Pulau Ubin in a motorised sampan the day before.

Chew, 57, had tried unsuccessfully to flee the country a day before he was due to start serving a jail sentence of three years and four months.

Chew had been convicted earlier — along with five other former CHC leaders including church founder Kong Hee — for criminal breach of trust and falsification of accounts involving more than S$50 million of church funds.

Chew began serving his sentence last Thursday after the district court decided not to remand him further for investigations into his attempt to flee Singapore.

Last week, boatman Tan was also charged for helping another man, known as Shanker Mahalingam, to illegally leave Singapore on December 17 last year at 8.15am.

Tan had allegedly transported Shanker using a motorised boat from a beach near the PA Water Venture outlet at Changi to the vicinity of fish farms near Pulau Ubin. Shanker then took another boat which departed for Malaysia.

If convicted, Tan could be jailed for between six months and two years, and fined up to S$6,000 for each charge.

Meanwhile, Khoo Kea Leng, the 46-year-old Malaysian charged last week for abetting Chew by engaging in a conspiracy with Chew for him to flee Singapore, was offered S$20,000 bail and will also next appear in court on March 29.

Khoo, who is currently unrepresented, indicated his intention to engage a lawyer.

Khoo had allegedly collected S$8,000 in cash from Chew in the vicinity of Block 75 Marine Drive on Feb 20, as part of payment for conveying Chew from Singapore to Malaysia.

He was arrested in Pekan Nanas, Pontian, by the Royal Malaysia Police and handed over to the Singapore authorities on February 26.

The fourth and last suspect arrested in relation to Chew’s case, Chew’s elder brother Chew Eng Soon, 61, is out on bail. — TODAY