Former real estate agent gets 38 months’ jail for cheating

SINGAPORE — A former real estate agent who duped two clients, a mother and daughter, into parting with their money and car was sentenced to 38 months’ jail today (July 9).

Lau Wing Kuan, 40, had been convicted of three charges — one each for cheating, criminal breach of trust, and forgery.

According to court documents, the Singaporean fleeced as much as S$90,000 from Madam Wang Chunling, a 60-year-old Chinese national.

He also sold off her daughter’s Mercedes Benz car valued at S$230,000 without the younger woman’s knowledge, and forged the latter’s details in a bank application form and cheque.

Lau had schemed to cheat Mdm Wang after she told him she wanted to buy a property sometime in July 2012.

Mdm Wang handed Lau a cheque for S$40,000, or 1 per cent option money for the purchase of the property. A few days later, he persuaded her to forfeit the option money for the first property, and to buy instead a property located at 259 South Bridge Road.

Not knowing that the second property was not for sale, Mdm Wang agreed to Lau’s suggestion. On July 12, 2012, she issued another cheque for S$90,000, or to 2 per cent option money, and handed it to Lau.

She signed the cheque — made out to her daughter, Ms Huang Luyang — before handing it to Lau to fill in the rest of the particulars.

Ms Huang, a Singapore permanent resident, got to know Lau after he helped her and Mdm Wang to buy properties in Singapore previously.

A month before Lau persuaded her mother to buy the South Bridge Road property, Ms Huang had entrusted her Mercedes Benz, valued at S$230,000, to him before she went to China for work.

Lau was supposed to send the car for servicing, and then return the car keys to Ms Huang’s friend.

However, when Ms Huang returned to Singapore a few months later, she discovered that her car had been sold and was no longer registered under her name. She lodged a police report when she could not contact Lau.

Police investigations revealed that Lau had resorted to deception to sell the car to a second-hand car dealer.

The dealer had told Lau that Ms Huang’s NRIC and a Land Transport Authority (LTA) authorisation form were needed before he could sell her Mercedes Benz.

Knowing that Ms Huang trusted him and would sign any forms he gave her, Lau couriered the LTA authorisation form to China, and slipped it among other documents for Ms Huang to sign.

She later signed the authorisation form and sent it back to Lau, along with her NRIC.

With the required documents in his possession, Lau sold off the car sometime in July 2012 for S$186,000.

He received the sale proceeds in a cashier’s order and a cheque made out in Ms Huang’s name.

Lau then opened a United Overseas Bank (UOB) account in Ms Huang’s name, by forging the application form. He banked in the sale proceeds from the car, and the S$90,000-cheque from Mdm Wang, into the account.

On July 17, 2012, Lau forged Ms Huang’s signature on a UOB cheque for the sum of S$270,000. He issued the cheque in his name before encashing it.

Lau later used S$83,000 of the money he had cheated from both women to pay off his personal debts. He then fled to Malaysia with the rest of the money.

Lau was arrested on May 28 last year when he returned to Singapore.