7 local and regional celebrities and their brush with law
No one is perfect, and your favourite celebrities, contrary to what you might think, are included. Some of these convicted celebrities fall from grace but were able to rebound back into everyone’s lives; while some have disappeared from the scene for good. Yahoo Lifestyle SEA rounds up a list of seven local and regional celebrities and their brush with the law in recent years.
1) Shane Pow
Recently charged for drink drinking, this is Singapore actor Shane Pow’s second brush with the law for the same offence. Pow committed the alleged offence on 17 September 2020, after breaching COVID-19 safe management measures in October 2020. If convicted, Pow faces a mandatory jail term of up to two years and a fine of between S$5,000 and S$20,000, along with a driving ban of at least five years.
Blindsided by his offence, Mediacorp had parted ways with the C.L.I.F 5 star, stating that they were not notified by Pow “prior to it being reported in the media on 22 April 2021.”
2) Khaeryll Benjamin Ibrahim
In 2017, Malaysian actor Khaeryll Benjamin Ibrahim was sentenced to 11 years in prison for trying to smuggle drugs into the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The then-38-year-old had attempted to smuggle 4.5grams of crystal methamphetamine hidden in his rectum and was caught at the Kualanamu International Airport.
Known to his fans as Benjy, the actor starred in films and dramas such as Gangsterock Kasi Sengat, What If, and Kerana Cintaku Saerah.
3) Mark Anthony Fernandez
After Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte launched his war against drugs, several Filipino celebrities, including popular actor Mark Anthony Fernandez, were arrested for alleged illegal drugs. Son of actor Rudy Fernandez and actress-politician Alma Moreno, Fernandez was arrested in October 2016 after the Angeles City Police found illegal drugs inside his vehicle.
However, after a year of being jailed, he was released when the courts dismissed his case. Fernandez had admitted to being a marijuana user but denied that the kilo of marijuana in his vehicle was his, saying that it was placed by someone else in his car.
4) CJ Ramos
Former Filipino child actor CJ Ramos was another celebrity that was arrested after President Duterte’s war on drugs. In 2018, Ramos was caught in the act of buying illegal drugs in Caloocan City, Philippines, and admitted to using illegal drugs due to “personal problems.” The actor admitted to using drugs for the past ten years.
First starred in Okay ka, Fairy Ko in 1987, Ramos made his acting comeback via FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano shortly after his release and has been on the show ever since.
5) Ashley Rita
Former Miss Universe Singapore 2017 contestant Ashley Rita Wong Kai Lin was convicted and jailed for six weeks in February 2021 for using her friends’ debit cards to make unauthorised purchases after memorising them. The 27-year-old e-gaming commentator had pleaded guilty to the four charges under the Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act, with another 27 charges taken into consideration.
Wong had memorised two of her friends’ debit card details in 2016 and used their cards to make unauthorised purchases online. She had used one victim’s debit card illegally more than 20 times between August and September 2016 to buy various items.
6) Neelofa
Malaysian celebrity Neelofa and family were fined a total of RM60,000 for violating the COVID-19 standard operating procedures (SOP). The breaches were committed during her recent wedding ceremony, including regulations on interstate travel. With her husband, the couple had travelled to Langkawi for a work trip that many said was a disguise for their honeymoon.
The RM60,000 fine includes members of the couple’s family, who were issued fines of RM1,500 each, totalling RM30,000. They had been convicted for failing to observe physical distancing during the couple’s marriage solemnisation ceremony in March 2021. Seemingly unaffected by the fines, Neelofa continues to share photos of videos of her at work despite the controversy.
7) Terence Cao
Local actor Terence Cao is in trouble with the law as he allowed 12 individuals, including Shane Pow, Jeffery Xu, Sonia Chew, and Jeremy Chan, to enter his house for a birthday celebration last year.
Held between 2 and 3 October 2020, Cao hosted the celebrities, seen in a photo uploaded onto social media, when the regulations then prohibited more than five visitors in a household at any one time.
The guests at the gathering were fined S$300 each, and Cao’s hearing for him to plead guilty has been fixed for 25 May. If convicted of flouting COVID-19 regulations, Cao could face a jail term of up to six months and a maximum fine of S$10,000.
