A Singapore man who secretly filmed couples engaged in sexual acts and later used the footage to threaten one victim has been sentenced to two years and 10 months in prison and three strokes of the cane.
Mohammad Sharulnaim Miswan, 33, pleaded guilty to three charges, including putting a person in fear of harm to commit extortion, obstructing justice and wrongful confinement. Two additional charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.
The case came to light after Sharulnaim secretly recorded a couple at a rooftop garden and later confronted the woman with the footage, threatening to report or publish it unless she gave him money and complied with a sexual demand.
He Hid Behind Plants to Record the Couple
According to court documents, Sharulnaim encountered a 35-year-old woman and a 39-year-old man at a rooftop garden at about 1am on Jan. 15, 2024.
After suspecting the pair might engage in sexual activity, he hid behind plants and secretly recorded them.
He made five videos, some of which captured the couple’s faces. He also moved to another position to obtain a better view. The victims’ identities and addresses were protected by court gag orders.
Several months later, Sharulnaim approached the woman at a clinic while she was with her young son.
He showed her a screenshot from the recording and told her he had filmed her having sex at the rooftop garden. He then threatened to report the incident to the police or make the video go viral.
The woman, concerned about the potential consequences and her family, initially offered him S$300.
Sharulnaim rejected the amount and subsequently demanded progressively larger sums, including S$2,000, S$1,500 and eventually S$1,000.
But his demands went beyond money.
He also demanded that the woman have sex with him, telling her that he could pick her up and take her to a car park before deleting the video.
She refused.
Instead, after consulting the man who appeared in the recording, she reported the matter to the police.
The Threats Continued Even After Police Became Involved
Sharulnaim was arrested after police began investigating the extortion allegation.
However, the matter did not end there.
In September 2024, Sharulnaim approached the woman’s sister at a supermarket and again referred to the explicit recording. He asked the victim to tell investigators that she no longer wanted to pursue the case.
He later encountered the woman again and pleaded with her to drop the investigation.
According to court proceedings, he offered gifts and financial assistance and even asked her to tell police that they were family, despite that not being true. The woman’s sister subsequently made another police report.
He Targeted Another Couple While Under Investigation
Perhaps the most striking part of the case came while the first investigation was still ongoing.
On Feb. 25, 2025, Sharulnaim encountered another couple in their 20s having sex inside a parked car at a multi-storey car park.
He took a photograph of them before approaching the vehicle.
He claimed to be a former police officer and told the couple that he had recorded them and would make a police report.
He also told them they could face penalties for sexual activity in a public place.
When the couple attempted to leave, Sharulnaim drove his vehicle around them and cornered them.
He then insisted that the woman get into his car.
According to the court account, he locked the vehicle’s doors and drove her away, complimented her appearance and questioned why she was in a relationship with her boyfriend.
He eventually brought her to her home and released her. She later reported the incident to police.
Judge Rebukes Offender Over Harm to His Own Family
District Judge Samuel Wee described Sharulnaim’s conduct as premeditated and planned.
The judge also highlighted the impact the offender’s actions had on his own family.
Sharulnaim’s wife was present in court with their month-old baby and broke down during the sentencing proceedings.
Judge Wee told Sharulnaim that his actions had been particularly hurtful to his wife and warned him that his children would spend a period of their lives without their father while he served his sentence.
Sharulnaim was eventually allowed time to say goodbye to his family before being taken into custody. He said goodbye to his baby through a glass partition.
For the extortion-related offence, the law allows a prison sentence of between two and five years and caning. Obstructing justice carries a possible prison term of up to seven years and a fine, while wrongful confinement can carry up to three years’ imprisonment and a fine.
Why the Case Matters
The case highlights the serious legal consequences of using intimate images or recordings to threaten, pressure or extort victims.
Singapore courts have dealt with a number of cases involving secretly recorded sexual activity and subsequent threats. In a 2021 case, for example, a man who attempted to blackmail his friend’s boss with secretly recorded sexual footage was jailed after threatening to obtain S$50,000 from the victim.
Another Singapore case involved a man who secretly filmed people he met through a dating application and subsequently threatened them, illustrating how intimate recordings can become tools for coercion and blackmail.
The latest case is particularly notable because Sharulnaim continued targeting people even after authorities had begun investigating his earlier conduct.
Rather than being a single incident, the court heard evidence of a repeated pattern: secretly recording or photographing couples, using the threat of police action or exposure to frighten them, and attempting to exploit their fear for personal gain.
The sentence sends a clear warning that secretly obtaining intimate material and using it to threaten or control another person can lead to serious criminal consequences in Singapore.
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