A Singaporean man has been condemned to nearly four years in prison after attempting to frame his divorced wife by placing cannabis in her car, knowing she may face the death penalty.
Tan Xianglong, 37, was sentenced to three years and ten months in jail by a district court on Thursday, according to court documents.
The pair had been estranged for less than two years after seeking a divorce but failing to obtain one due to their short marriage, according to the filings.
Tan was furious with his wife because he believed she did not contribute enough monetarily to the marriage.
According to the records, he consulted lawyers and “came away with the idea that a divorce could happen if one of the parties had a criminal record”.
He originally hired a private investigator to gather evidence that she was committing adultery, but no proof was discovered.
This motivated Tan to devise a plot to frame his estranged wife by planting weed in her car, which he described to his girlfriend as a “perfect plan”.
Tan purchased the pills on the illegal market and weighed them at home, discovering they weighed 510 grams (18 ounces), more than the 500-gram threshold that warrants the death penalty in Singapore.
“From his research online, he knew that the involved party (his wife) would face the death penalty if convicted of trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis,” the court documents said.
“He nonetheless decided to proceed with his plan as he was very angry with the involved party.”
A laboratory analysis of the drugs, however, showed they only contained 216.17 grams of pure cannabis.
Tan’s wife was arrested after police discovered the drugs in her car, but they found no other incriminating evidence against her.
Police then turned their investigation to Tan, who was subsequently arrested.
The United Nations and rights groups say capital punishment has no proven deterrent effect, and have called for it to be discontinued.
Singaporean officials, however, contend it has helped make the country one of Asia’s safest.
The city-state carries out the death penalty by hanging.