SINGAPORE - A 23-year-old man hatched a scheme with two others to steal electronic vaporiser pods from a delivery man so they could resell the illicit items for a profit. But it all went up in smoke when the delivery man called the police and the trio were caught. Justin Yeo Kiong Swee was sentenced to two weeks' jail and a fine of $2,000 on Oct 27. His accomplices' cases are pending. Yeo was one of eight people prosecuted by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) between July and October this year for the illegal sale of electronic vaporisers and components. The youngest offender was aged 19. More than $70,000 worth of e-vaporisers and components, which they bought from abroad and sold online, were seized from them. The eight offenders were fined $57,000 in total. The 19-year-old, Tang Wee Meng, was arrested by a police officer while trying to smuggle the goods across Woodlands Checkpoint. He had been selling e-vaporisers on messaging platform Telegram. Tang was sentenced to 15 months' probation in July for his offences. Another offender, Yew Chee Sian, 32, was caught trying to smuggle over 7,000 pieces of e-vaporisers and components through parcel post to sell them. Of the eight, Yew was given the highest fine of $40,500 for his offences under the Tobacco Act. PHOTO: HSA HSA said it had prosecuted 64 people between January 2018 and October this year for selling e-vaporisers and components. "The highest fine meted out so far was $99,000 for the illegal sale of these prohibited items. There was also a case where one person was sentenced to one week's imprisonment and a fine of $61,000," said HSA. Those convicted of selling, importing or distributing e-vaporisers and components can be fined up to $10,000 and jailed for up to six months for the first offence. PHOTO: HSA For repeat offenders, the maximum punishment is a fine of up to $20,000 and a jail term of up to a year. Since Feb 1, 2018, it has been illegal to possess, purchase or use e-vaporisers. The penalty is a fine of up to $2,000 for each offence. HSA said 6,354 people were taken to task for such offences between February 2018 and October this year. More on this topic Related Story HSA seizes biggest haul of over $2m worth of e-vaporisers, related components in Boon Lay Related Story 14 Malaysians jailed after 'largest seizure' of e-vaporisers and components worth about $700,000
Tallinn, Estonia / SEAPRWire / July 06, 2021 / - Recently, Aufort, the Estonian-Austrian retail platform aimed at people looking to gain exposure to gold free from intermediaries and related costs has officially launched. It is the first company in the world that offers a platform where one can buy, sell, and withdraw digital gold in a convenient e-shop format. To celebrate this important milestone, Aufort is giving away 1,000,000 euros worth of gold. Platform aims to provide retail investors interested in gold as an asset class but have traditionally been put off by the high entry costs, storage limitations and liquidity. Retail investors can gain exposure to gold as an asset class for under €30 E-store solution enables people to buy, store, sell, and withdraw their gold holdings easily AufortGold's eCommerce solution for investment gold is based on Obyte's Direct Acyclic Graph (DAG) technology to increase transparency and reliability. DAG technology was selected by Aufort due to its ability to process a high number of transactions per second (TPS), almost non-existent transaction costs, low energy use, deterministic finality and ability to scale making it suited for large numbers of retail investors. Gold is stored on behalf of the customer in secure vaults based in Austria and Estonia and can be resold at the current global market price or conveniently withdrawn as a gold bar as low as one gram. "Innovative digital solutions are giving gold more and more new uses, which means that in the near future, transferring gold, paying with gold at a grocery store or borrowing with gold as collateral will be just a few examples of this," commented Bert-Ken Raudberg, founder of Aufort. In autumn, Aufort's innovative product was selected for the Tehnopol Startup Incubator and in December, more than 60 investors invested 200,000 euros in the company's activities in a private co-financing round. The digital investment gold e-store solution is one of the first tangible fruits of last year's investment. This summer, however, the company is kicking off a campaign to raise awareness by giving away a million euros worth of gold. "Interest in gold is growing, which was confirmed by last year's successful financing round and our growing customer base, which sees strong competition in gold for both bonds and shares. With a gold injection of one million euros, we are offering beginners and experienced investors an extraordinary opportunity to enter the gold market, which should definitely be an option worth looking at in this current time of accelerating inflation, "said Bert-Ken Raudberg, founder of Aufort. The campaign will last until 15th of July or until the gold runs out. Gold can be redeemed until August 31st, 2021. To participate in the campaign, you must register on the campaign page (https://giveaway.aufort.gold), after which you will be sent instructions on how to receive a piece of gold. Recently, Aufort has sold a total of just over 125,000 grams of gold and silver to thousands of Estonian customers. This autumn, the company will be holding a second round of public financing to actively expand further into Europe and USA and bring new gold investment solutions to the market. Aufort's aim is to grow into a next generation gold bank. About the company Aufort has been buying and selling investment gold and silver since 2014. The new digital product, AufortGold, has just been launched, and offers the simplest, most convenient, and fastest solution of investing in gold for both beginners and experienced investors. Aufort is the first company in the world to offer its customers the opportunity to buy physical gold in digital form through an online store. Social Links Facebook: http://facebook.com/aufort.gold Instagram: https://instagram.com/aufort.gold Twitter: https://twitter.com/aufortgold Media Contact Company: Aufort Contact: Bert-Ken Raudberg Email: press@aufort.gold Website: https://aufort.gold SOURCE: Aufort The article is provided by a third-party content provider. SEAPRWire ( www.seaprwire.com ) makes no warranties or representations in connection therewith. Any questions, please contact cs/at/SEAPRWire.com Sectors: Top Story, Daily News SEA PRWire: PR distribution in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines & Hong Kong )
SINGAPORE - Construction contracts for the built environment sector are expected to grow to between $23 billion and $28 billion this year, as the sector recovers from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, National Development Minister Desmond Lee said on Monday (Jan 18). This is up from the $21.3 billion worth of projects estimated to have been awarded last year - a figure that was revised downward by $10 billion in September after demand took a hit owing to the pandemic, with projects postponed in light of market uncertainties and disruption. The growth is expected to continue over the next five years to between $25 billion and $32 billion, Mr Lee said at a seminar organised by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) and the Real Estate Developers' Association of Singapore. The public sector will contribute about 65 per cent of the overall construction demand for 2021, he added. This figure - which ranges from $15 billion to $18 billion - is higher than the $13.2 billion worth of public sector projects in 2020. Upcoming public sector projects include the Jurong Region Line, the Cross Island Line and Phase 2 of the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System, which will convey used water from the western part of Singapore to the Tuas plant for treatment. There will also be around $6 billion worth of smaller public sector projects which are less than $100 million in contract value, such as cycling paths, parks, and upgrading works - comparable with the annual average before Covid-19 hit, Mr Lee noted. But demand for projects by the private sector is unlikely to return to pre-Covid-19 levels, as investors are likely to remain cautious, he added. Hence, demand in 2021 is expected to be between $8 billion to $10 billion - similar to the figure of $8.1 billion in 2020, a drop from $14.5 billion in 2019. But as the global economy gradually recovers, construction demand in the private sector is also expected to improve steadily in the medium term to reach between $11 billion and $14 billion per year from 2022 to 2025, the BCA said. But this is still contingent on the successful deployment and effectiveness of Covid-19 treatment and vaccines as well as easing of lockdown restrictions. This forecast does not take into consideration the potential new contracts for Changi Airport Terminal 5 and the expansion of the two Integrated Resorts, as the project timelines are still under review due to Covid-19 disruptions. Mr Lee acknowledged that the construction industry is still facing significant headwinds, especially with the tight manpower situation. He said the Government will continue to monitor the situation and adjust measures to support the sector. The private property market has remained resilient, with the pace of increase in private housing prices gathering momentum since the second quarter of 2020, he noted. He urged developers to remain prudent in their land bidding and work with agents to market their projects responsibly, and for households to exercise caution in their property purchase decisions. More on this topic Related Story Construction sector needs to able to take on future 'black swan' events: Desmond Lee Related Story Hold on or fold up: Singapore's construction, F&B players struggle to cope with crunch "The Government is monitoring the developments in the property market very closely," he said. Efforts to encourage the industry to adopt technology and reduce reliance on foreign workers will also be stepped up, said Mr Lee. This includes taking a "more aggressive approach" to drive Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) across the entire sector in the coming years. More will also be done to drive Integrated Digital Delivery (IDD) , he added. DfMA involves construction being designed for manufacturing off-site in a controlled environment, before being assembled on-site, while IDD uses digital technologies to integrate work processes and connect stakeholders working on the same project throughout the construction and building process. More on this topic Related Story How construction firms can build a sustainable future post-Covid-19 Related Story Hume MRT shell station to be fitted out by JSM Construction Group at $34m