Repossessor gets fine for illegally accessing parking data

A repossessor was fined $7,500 after he got a friend in the HDB to help him find wanted vehicles by accessing parking information on its computer system, reported The Straits Times.

Lim Han Chai, 57, earned about $100 for every vehicle he repossessed on behalf of financial institutions when the car owners defaulted on loan repayments.

However, the legitimate methods he used limited the number of cars he could find, so he asked HDB officer Mohd Ali Abdul Rahman to access information on season parking and parking offences. Lim would send text messages with the vehicle registration numbers to Mohd Ali, who would check the HDB's Integrated Car Park Systems and reply.

Mohd Ali, who did not receive any payment for his help, knew he was allowed access to the system only for official duties. He was jailed for four weeks in March for his role.

Lim admitted to five charges from 2011 under the Computer Misuse Act for instigating Mohd Ali to gain unauthorised access to information. Another 30 charges were taken into consideration. The prosecution, which had pressed for a jail term, has appealed against the sentence.