A man who purportedly lost around $2,000 gambling at a casino on board a cruise ship e-mailed fake bomb threats to its company as he wanted his money back.
Neo Hui Ghim’s offence, which was committed shortly after his trip ended, led to a two-hour boarding delay for another group of about 4,000 holidaymakers as the authorities had to conduct safety checks throughout the vessel.
He was identified as the person behind the bomb threats as he had used the same e-mail address to send them and make the cruise booking.
Sentencing for the 41-year-old Singaporean is expected to take place on Oct 27, after he pleaded guilty earlier to one count of communicating false information about a harmful situation. He was initially slated to be sentenced on Sept 22.
On Oct 11, 2023, Neo and his parents boarded a Resorts World Cruises (RWC) ship for a trip from Singapore to Malaysia and back, said deputy public prosecutors (DPPs) Sruthi Boppana and Kelly Ng.
Neo wanted to watch a concert on the ship, but was told that the tickets for the show were sold out.
He gambled at the casino several times and allegedly lost around $2,000 in total during the cruise that ended on Oct 13, 2023.
Less than an hour after his trip ended at 1.20pm, Neo was on an MRT train when he started thinking about the concert and his gambling losses.
He then e-mailed the RWC “member booking” team with the subject “Bomb at Resorts World Cruises”: “If I don’t receive the money I hope that one day Resorts World Cruises will explode and all guests and service personnel will drop into the sea.
“Next time, if I lose again, I’ll make sure the whole cruise is burnt.”
Shortly before 2.30pm that day, he sent another e-mail, this time to RWC’s customer service team, with the same subject. The message read: “Please return me back my monies else the ship will explode and everyone dropped into the sea.
“Next time when I cruise again and happen to lose money I’ll ensure the entire cruise ship explode.”
At around 3.45pm, he e-mailed an employee from the “member booking” team, stating: “Your cruise will be burnt down.”
After receiving the e-mails, RWC’s employees carried out their checks and discovered that Neo was the one who had sent them.
They forwarded the e-mails to an RWC port operation senior manager, who alerted the police.
The DPPs said: “(The manager) was not able to give clear information about the accused and whether he was still on the cruise. The phone was then passed to an auxiliary police officer… who was likewise unable to give clear information.
“Parties to the call sounded panicked.”
Eventually, officers from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) were also alerted, and they found out that Neo had left the cruise.
Officers from agencies including ICA and the Singapore Police Force then performed a search of the cruise, including its casino and cabins.
At around 6.45pm, the authorities determined that the cruise was safe to board.
Neo was arrested at around 7.30pm that day.
An offender convicted of communicating false information about a harmful situation can be jailed for up to seven years, fined up to $50,000 or both.
Shaffiq Alkhatib for The Straits Times
Man made fake bomb threats on cruise ship after claiming to lose $2k at its casino
