M’sian man, 31, who smuggled stolen deregistered vehicles from S’pore to M’sia, gets 20 months’ jail & S$1,390 fine - Mothership

He was also disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for all classes of vehicles for 18 months.

A 31-year-old Malaysian man was sentenced to 20 months’ jail and fined S$1,390 for being part of an organised criminal group that stole deregistered cars in Singapore and smuggled them into Malaysia to be resold at a profit.

He was also disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for all classes of vehicles for 18 months.

Abdullah Abbas Bin Moh Arba Ai faced 13 charges, including theft and offences under the Road Traffic Act and the Organised Crime Act.

He pleaded guilty to four charges and was sentenced on Nov. 11.

The remaining charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

In court documents seen by Mothership, Abbas worked with two other individuals identified as Mohd Mazuan Bin Abdullah, 39, and Terry Toh Kwang Huat, 53.

Mazuan was the overseas mastermind of the gang based in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, while Toh was his partner, based in Singapore.

Abbas was a private-hire vehicle driver in Malaysia when he met Toh as his passenger.

In September 2025, Abbas introduced Mazuan to Toh.

Mazuan was an agent who purchased deregistered vehicles from Singapore for resale in Malaysia.

Toh and Mazuan later devised a plan to steal deregistered vehicles in Singapore by exploiting the common practice of scrap companies leaving vehicle keys on the tyres.

Their modus operandi was to steal such vehicles, replace the Singapore registration plates with Malaysian plates that Mazuan would obtain and drive the vehicles across the Woodlands Causeway into Malaysia.

They would then resell the vehicles there.

Both men agreed to split the proceeds from the sale of the vehicles equally.

Between October and November 2025, Mazuan recruited Abbas to smuggle the stolen vehicles from Singapore to Malaysia.

He promised to pay him RM500 (S$157.08) for each vehicle successfully smuggled across the border.

On or about Oct. 23, 2025, Mazuan and Toh located a deregistered white Toyota

Camry valued at S$4,500 at a scrapyard in Sungei Kadut.

Toh found the vehicle’s key on its tyre and drove it with Mazuan to a car park in Woodlands.

Mazuan then produced a Malaysian vehicle plate which he had illegally obtained and brought into Singapore.

Toh removed the vehicle's Singapore registration plate and fixed the false Malaysian plate in its place.

Toh later drove the vehicle to a car park near a mosque located at Admiralty Road and left the key on the tyre.

After returning to Malaysia, Mazuan contacted Abbas and instructed him to collect the vehicle from the car park and deliver it to him in Malaysia.

Acting on Mazuan's instructions, Abbas entered Singapore via Woodlands Checkpoint and walked to the car park near the mosque.

When he saw the vehicle, Abbas could see that it was a Singapore-registered vehicle bearing a false Malaysian plate.

However, he followed Mazuan’s instructions because the remuneration was “attractive” and drove the vehicle from the mosque to Woodlands Checkpoint, crossing the border into Malaysia.

Abbas then parked the vehicle outside Mazuan’s residence and received his payment.

On or about Nov. 24, 2025, Toh located a deregistered red Toyota Altis valued at S$3,400 at a scrapyard in Sungei Kadut.

Toh found the vehicle's key on its tyre and drove it to a public housing car park in Woodlands.

He then removed the Singapore registration plate and affixed a Malaysian vehicle plate which Mazuan had previously handed to him.

Toh then parked the Altis near the mosque, left the key on the tyre, and informed Mazuan, who then instructed Abbas to collect the vehicle.

Abbas complied, entered Singapore via Johor Bahru, and located the vehicle.

He then drove the vehicle into Malaysia without valid insurance coverage.

Abbas delivered the vehicle to Mazuan at his residence and received RM250 (S$78.24) for this task.

Mazuan explained that the payment was lower than the agreed rate as the vehicle was “not an expensive car”.

Between Nov. 19 and 23, 2025, Abbas also smuggled two other stolen vehicles from Singapore into Malaysia with a combined value of S$4,000 and delivered them to Mazuan.

Abbas knew something was amiss when the Singapore vehicles he was tasked to transport had Malaysian plates.

When he queried Mazuan, Mazuan told him the plates had been changed to save costs.

Abbas did not find the explanation satisfactory, but chose not to press the matter further, as the pay was good.

His wife also told him something was wrong with the activities, but Abbas persisted, claiming he needed the money.

After taking possession of the four vehicles, Mazuan sought buyers in Malaysia and successfully sold two for a combined RM9,500 (S$2,973.06).

All four stolen vehicles were subsequently recovered in Malaysia.

On Jan. 20, Abbas was arrested at Woodlands Checkpoint upon re-entering Singapore.

He was produced in court on Jan. 22 and has been remanded since.

The prosecution sought 20 to 24 months’ jail, 18 months’ disqualification from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences and a fine of S$1,390 for Abbas.

They argued that Abbas had no intention of returning the stolen vehicles and was “evinced by the fact that the accused drove the stolen vehicles across the border into Malaysia”.

“The recovery of the vehicles was entirely fortuitous,” they added.

The prosecution also highlighted the nature of the offences, saying that a “strong deterrent” sentence is needed to “signal Singapore's firm and uncompromising stance against the use of its territory as a base for syndicated criminal activity”.

“The proposed sentence is necessary to adequately reflect his overall criminality,” the prosecution concluded.

Toh and Mazuan’s cases are at the pre-trial-conference stage.

https://mothership.sg/2026/03/malaysia-man-vehicle-cloning-theft