Singapore court convicts ex-star and scriptwriter of ‘Wah! Banana’ of raping woman met on Tinder; sentencing pending

SINGAPORE, March 22 — Lev Panfilov, a former actor and scriptwriter with YouTube comedy channel Wah! Banana, has been found guilty by the Singapore High Court of two counts of rape, one count of sexual assault by penetration, and one count of outrage of modesty of a woman he met on dating app Tinder.

Panfilov, a 28-year-old Singapore permanent resident from Russia will be sentenced at a later date, The Straits Times reported yesterday.

The assault was said to have occurred on January 12, 2021, when Panfilov took the victim, a 30-year-old aspiring comedy writer, to his flat after meeting on Tinder after she asked him for scriptwriting advice.

She testified that after dinner at Robertson Quay, he invited her to continue working at his place.

While watching comedy videos in his bedroom, Panfilov suddenly kissed her.The victim who was not named in the news report said she rejected him and tried to leave, but he sexually assaulted and raped her.

Still in pain, she saw a doctor on January 16 the same year, who advised her to report the assault