SINGAPORE: A man travelled to Singapore without a concert ticket but was determined to watch a show by Bruno Mars.
He checked out the Singapore Sports Hub venue, chatted up employees there and secretly took videos of both sides of their passes, before photoshopping his face onto a staff pass and getting a local shop to print copies.
When 23-year-old Cameroon national Karl Phillippe Njiomo Tengueu presented his staff pass to the security officers outside the Sports Hub on Apr 3, they let him in.
He watched the entire show, successfully shifting to the VIP segment after tricking another security officer.
Karl was sentenced to 10 weeks' jail on Friday (May 24). He pleaded guilty to three charges including forgery and cheating, with another three charges taken into consideration.
The court heard that singer Bruno Mars was set to perform at Singapore's national stadium in early April.
Tickets ranged from S$108 to S$598, but were reportedly sold out. Despite not having a ticket, Karl came to Singapore intending to go to the concert and leave the country thereafter.
On Apr 2, a day before the first concert, Karl visited Singapore Sports Hub and walked around.
He noticed that some employees wore Sports Hub staff passes and were allowed to enter the concert venue.
He concocted a plan to enter the concert by pretending to be staff. Karl approached a few employees wearing staff passes and began talking to them, asking them questions while secretly taking videos of their passes.
The videos were played in court and showed the unsuspecting victims answering and laughing in response to Karl.
After this, Karl took screenshots of the staff pass from the videos he had recorded and used Photoshop on his laptop to make a false staff pass.
He digitally affixed his face and name on the pass and visited a local printing shop to have multiple copies made. He also printed a forged VIP ticket to the Bruno Mars concert using an image he obtained online.
On the evening of Apr 3, Karl wore a lanyard with the forged staff pass and donned a reflective vest so he could masquerade as an employee.
Before he entered the concert, he posted a short video of himself on Instagram stories, saying he was trying to enter the concert without a ticket.
Security officers allowed Karl to enter without going through the usual security checks or ticket scans. No checks were done on his staff pass.
During the concert, Karl tried to enter the VIP area, but was stopped by a security officer who asked if he was authorised to do so.
When Karl said he was, the security officer took a photo of Karl's pass before letting him in.
Karl stayed until the end of the performance before leaving.
However, the security officer tried to verify if Karl's pass was legitimate. He realised it was forged, but Karl could not be located that day.
The security officers at the site were alerted to the incident and instructed to look out for Karl on subsequent days of the concert.
He was detained by security when he tried to enter the concert again on Apr 5.
The prosecution sought 14 to 18 weeks' jail for Karl, citing his high degree of premeditation and the fact that he had trespassed into an extremely congested concert area.
The defence said Karl was "trying to keep as quiet as possible" and not disrupt the event, and said he was never going to harm other people.
In response, the prosecutor shot down the argument that Karl was trying to be discreet, as Karl had posted his offending "openly" on social media.
His sentence was backdated to his date of arrest.
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He checked out the Singapore Sports Hub venue, chatted up employees there and secretly took videos of both sides of their passes, before photoshopping his face onto a staff pass and getting a local shop to print copies.
When 23-year-old Cameroon national Karl Phillippe Njiomo Tengueu presented his staff pass to the security officers outside the Sports Hub on Apr 3, they let him in.
He watched the entire show, successfully shifting to the VIP segment after tricking another security officer.
Karl was sentenced to 10 weeks' jail on Friday (May 24). He pleaded guilty to three charges including forgery and cheating, with another three charges taken into consideration.
The court heard that singer Bruno Mars was set to perform at Singapore's national stadium in early April.
Tickets ranged from S$108 to S$598, but were reportedly sold out. Despite not having a ticket, Karl came to Singapore intending to go to the concert and leave the country thereafter.
KARL'S PLAN
On Apr 2, a day before the first concert, Karl visited Singapore Sports Hub and walked around.
He noticed that some employees wore Sports Hub staff passes and were allowed to enter the concert venue.
He concocted a plan to enter the concert by pretending to be staff. Karl approached a few employees wearing staff passes and began talking to them, asking them questions while secretly taking videos of their passes.
The videos were played in court and showed the unsuspecting victims answering and laughing in response to Karl.
After this, Karl took screenshots of the staff pass from the videos he had recorded and used Photoshop on his laptop to make a false staff pass.
He digitally affixed his face and name on the pass and visited a local printing shop to have multiple copies made. He also printed a forged VIP ticket to the Bruno Mars concert using an image he obtained online.
On the evening of Apr 3, Karl wore a lanyard with the forged staff pass and donned a reflective vest so he could masquerade as an employee.
Before he entered the concert, he posted a short video of himself on Instagram stories, saying he was trying to enter the concert without a ticket.
Security officers allowed Karl to enter without going through the usual security checks or ticket scans. No checks were done on his staff pass.
During the concert, Karl tried to enter the VIP area, but was stopped by a security officer who asked if he was authorised to do so.
When Karl said he was, the security officer took a photo of Karl's pass before letting him in.
Karl stayed until the end of the performance before leaving.
However, the security officer tried to verify if Karl's pass was legitimate. He realised it was forged, but Karl could not be located that day.
The security officers at the site were alerted to the incident and instructed to look out for Karl on subsequent days of the concert.
He was detained by security when he tried to enter the concert again on Apr 5.
The prosecution sought 14 to 18 weeks' jail for Karl, citing his high degree of premeditation and the fact that he had trespassed into an extremely congested concert area.
The defence said Karl was "trying to keep as quiet as possible" and not disrupt the event, and said he was never going to harm other people.
In response, the prosecutor shot down the argument that Karl was trying to be discreet, as Karl had posted his offending "openly" on social media.
His sentence was backdated to his date of arrest.
Continue reading...