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Mobile Air salesmen plead guilty to cheating offences

SINGAPORE — Details of dodgy sales tactics used by former employees of now-defunct Mobile Air shop at Sim Lim Square emerged today (Oct 1) as four of them pleaded guilty to a string of cheating offences.

Koh Guan Seng faced 15 charges involving S$9,789, and had six charges proceeded with. TODAY file photo

Koh Guan Seng faced 15 charges involving S$9,789, and had six charges proceeded with. TODAY file photo

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SINGAPORE — Details of dodgy sales tactics used by former employees of now-defunct Mobile Air shop at Sim Lim Square emerged today (Oct 1) as four of them pleaded guilty to a string of cheating offences.

The court heard that Koh Guan Seng, 38, Kam Kok Keong, 31, Lim Hong Ching, 34, and Kelvin Lim Zhi Wei, 32, preyed mainly on foreigners unfamiliar with the English language or low-wage workers, by first offering to sell them handphones at an attractive low price before jacking up the total cost later. Through such tactics, they succeeded in cheating 25 people, ranging from construction workers to foreign students, last year.

Mobile Air, which was owned by Jover Chew, became notorious after a video of a Vietnamese tourist going on his knees to beg for a refund at the shop went viral in November last year.

The court also heard that Chew would indicate the cost price of the products on the packaging — and employees who sold the devices at a lower price than Chew had set would have to pay for the difference out of their own pockets.

Thus, a Mobile Air salesman would first offer a walk-in customer a handphone at a price below the one that had been set by Chew earlier. Once the customer agreed to the supposedly low price, the salesman would collect payment and present the handphone for inspection. The customer would then be asked to sign an invoice stating the agreed price.

After the deal had been inked, the salesman would then alter the invoice by adding extra items — such as a warranty — and jacking up the total price of the phone. Should the customer ask to call off the deal, the salesman would either refuse to give a refund, or impose a cancellation fee.

For their roles in cheating Mobile Air customers, the four men were charged with between one and 15 counts of abetment by conspiracy to cheat and dishonestly inducing delivery of property.

In court today, a laundry list of offences was recited to the four, who had worked as freelance sales executives at Mobile Air between 2013 and 2014. Their misdeeds included selling defective products, taunting victims to sue them or report them to the police, and blatantly refusing to honour orders issued by the Small Claims Tribunals.

Kam even tore a Consumers Association of Singapore letter requesting a refund to shreds in front of a victim.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Eunice Lim, describing the case as a “brazen case of cheating”, said: “Many of the victims were low-wage, daily-rated workers with limited understanding of the English language, consumers rights and the avenues of seeking recourse. It will be a tall order for them to pursue their remedy.”

Noting that no restitution has been made, Ms Lim called for a sentence of four to five months’ jail for each charge.

Kam faced a total of nine charges involving S$5,860, but only four were proceeded with. Court documents showed that he had colluded with Kelvin Lim and Chew to cheat a Bangladeshi construction worker last October. Mr Lutfur Rahman Abdul Alim ended up having to pay S$630 for a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 handphone, which was initially offered to him for S$330. For abetting others to cheat the Bangladeshi of S$300, Kelvin Lim was slapped with one charge.

Koh faced 15 charges involving S$9,789, and had six charges proceeded with.

Defence lawyer Edmund Wong argued that Koh was a “mere employee”, who had tried to dissuade his boss from committing such offences. Court documents, however, revealed that Koh had taunted customers and sold them defective products.

Lim Hong Ching faced two cheating charges amounting to S$1,600. The hearing has been adjourned till Oct 14, and the four men are out on bail.

Chew, who faces 28 charges, will have his case mentioned later this month. He is expected to plead guilty.

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