Chauffeur says employer threatened him to take the blame for hit-and-run and pay hefty fine

A 60-year-old personal driver claims that he was threatened by his then-employer to take the blame for a hit-and-run the employer had caused. The personal driver, Fu Zhenhui, also claimed that he was forced to pay nearly $1300 in fines and summons and also lost 9 demerit points over the hit-and-run case.

Speaking to the Chinese daily, Fu explained that he had been looking for work when he was introduced to his then-employer by a friend. Fu was engaged to work as a chauffeur for the man - who supposedly ran a finance company - on 22 July this year.

On his first day at work, Fu - who was hired to drive his employer around on weekends and some weekdays - was instructed to rent a car under his own name, drive the car to his boss' house and hand over the keys. Fu did as instructed.

The driver received a shock when the police called him at the end of the month and accused him of being involved in a hit-and-run accident on the 29th of July. Fu said:

"The car accident took place on 29 July in the afternoon at the Chinatown stretch. Police said the car I rented got into an accident with another car. But the whole day that day I was at my mother’s house!"

Fu's employer then called him and pleaded for him to take the blame for the accident, claiming that he would just have to pay a fine.

When Fu was hesitant, his boss allegedly threatened him to do as he is instructed or face unsavoury consequences.

Feeling trapped, Fu acceded to his boss' threat: "I felt trapped so I gave the police false facts. In the end I got fined S$1100 and given 9 demerit points."

Fu paid the fine but was surprised to also be slapped with a $200 fee for 6 summons. The summons were apparently racked up by his boss for other traffic violations.

According to Fu, his employer only paid for one of the summons that cost just $11.

Insulted, Fu has since lodged a police report over the matter. He asserts that he is prepared to face the consequences for giving the police a false statement earlier, as long as justice is served.

Investigations are ongoing.