Man Poses As His Brother To Avoid Arrest, Only To Learn The Latter Was A Wanted Criminal

A man involved in two fatal vehicle collisions plotted to avoid arrest by posing as his brother but that plan miserably backfired as the latter was a wanted criminal -- something he knew nothing of.

The incident happened in Singapore. Jason Chia Junjie, 40, was facing arrest for two unrelated incidents in 2008 and 2014. To avoid detention, he claimed to be his younger brother but in a twist of fate, the latter was also wanted by authorities at the time Junjie was arrested, The Straits Times reported.

Junjie was sentenced to nine weeks and was ordered to pay a $5,000 penalty. He was also banned from driving any vehicle for the next 20 years, the outlet reported.

Junjie had pleaded guilty to one count each of driving without insurance, driving while under a disqualification order, and giving false information to a public servant. In 2008, he was fined $7,000 and banned from driving for five years after a vehicle collision caused the death of a motorcyclist on an expressway, Singapore Uncensored reported.

Juneji reportedly didn't obtain a driving license after his earlier disqualification ended in July 2013. In October 2014, Juneji struck a pedestrian at the junction of Geylang Road and Lorong 22 after he failed to navigate his vehicle in a proper way. Juneji fled the scene and the pedestrian died of a head injury.

Juneji later surrendered to authorities and was in 2016 sentenced to 10 months' jail and banned from driving from Sept. 23 that year to Sept. 22, 2026, according to The Straits Times.

Juneji was stopped by a policeman along Lorong 12 Geylang on Nov. 2 last year while unlawfully driving a car. During interrogation, the man wrote down his brother's particulars on a piece of paper that he handed to the officer. "The screening of the particulars showed that (the brother) was wanted by the police. The accused was placed under arrest and brought into the police car," Deputy Public Prosecutor Emily Koh told the publication.

The court papers obtained by The Straits Times didn't reveal any information regarding his brother's case.