Kamari Charlton @ Least Three Cane Strokes, Allegedly Scam Australian Man Out Thousands: American Caning Overstay His Visa

The stories of an Americans who may be getting a caning in Singapore is all over the news. The first is Kamari Charlton, a former football player for Florida State University, who had allegedly ran a scam against an Australian man of his money four payments of thousands totaling over $60,000 dollars. The American media, notorious for their biased coverage in each of the Singapore caning cases (like claiming “flesh” would fly with the caning of an American teen who later seemed to walk it off with no lasting harm), claims he was getting at least three cane strokes for a mere visa violation. The confusion was understandable: A Visa overstay in Singapore can result in up to six months and at least three cane strokes.

However, in reality, the media has it wrong, claims the Singapore embassy representative, Siewgay Ong who said Kamari Charlton was wanted by Interpol for allegations of money laundering and running a phone-scam. It was learned only after his arrest that he had he had overstayed his visa; a caning worthy offense. This time around, however, the US government is taking a different tone from when they had attempted to intervene in the caning of the American teenager Michael Fay: this time the US government says it “respect[s] Singapore’s right to try and sentence individuals within due process of law”, a statement that would seem to imply that last time, under Bill Clinton, America did not respect Singapore’s rights.