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Jover Chew, 4 employees charged with cheating at Sim Lim

SINGAPORE — They first quoted an attractive price for the mobile devices as bait. Then, when payment was collected, they slapped on exorbitant charges for in-house warranties as a condition for the transaction.

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SINGAPORE — They first quoted an attractive price for the mobile devices as bait. Then, when payment was collected, they slapped on exorbitant charges for in-house warranties as a condition for the transaction.

Altogether, 25 victims allegedly got duped of S$14,449 in this way between December 2013 and October last year.

These accusations of cheating behaviour were pinned on Mobile Air owner Jover Chew Chiew Loon and four of his staff, who were charged in court yesterday.

Among the five, Chew, 33, faces the most charges (26) — 24 counts of abetment by conspiracy to cheat and dishonestly induce delivery of property, one count of criminal intimidation and one of cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property.

Edmund Lim Hong Ching, 33, a Mobile Air employee who took over the unit at Sim Lim Square after Chew vacated it last year, faces two counts of abetment by conspiracy to cheat and dishonestly induce delivery of property. The remaining three men — Koh Guan Seng, 38, Kam Kok Keong, 31, and Lim Zhi Wei Kelvin, 32 — each face one to 15 charges for the same offence.

The offence carries a maximum sentence of 10 years’ jail and a fine. Criminal intimidation is punishable with up to two years’ imprisonment and a fine.

Chew, clad in a dark polo T-shirt and sporting platinum blond hair, was released on S$40,000 bail in the afternoon. He intends to fight the charges and will return to court on June 25.

Bail sums for the rest ranged from S$10,000 to S$30,000. It is understood that they plan to plead guilty. Their cases will be mentioned again on June 19.

Mobile Air first gained notoriety last November after a video of Vietnamese tourist Pham Van Thoai tearfully begging on his knees for a refund from the shop went viral. The Vietnamese had paid S$950 for an iPhone 6, but was told he had to add S$1,500 in warranty fees. That incident unleashed a wave of outrage among netizens, who released many of Chew’s personal details online.

Following that saga, questions arose as to whether current laws sufficiently protect consumers from rogue merchants, as the consumer watchdog pressed the mall’s management to stiffen its by-laws to prevent unscrupulous sales tactics. This has been done, with the mall saying errant tenants will now be branded and put on watch.

Yesterday, lawyers interviewed said the charges have sent a signal that there are laws to deal with the problem.

“Honest retailers will feel empowered, and errant retailers will know that they can be taken to court if they bully or bluff customers,” said Mr Irving Choh, managing director at Optimus Chambers.

Mr Amolat Singh, managing partner at Amolat & Partners, added: “Once a person is shown to be dishonest and fraudulent, they can be charged under the Penal Code. There must have been salient enough reasons for the police to arrest them.”

Sim Lim Square retailers told TODAY that business has remained sluggish in the aftermath of the saga, with tourists continuing to stay away.

“It has slowed down a lot, in general,” said a 27-year-old salesperson at a smartphone and media box shop who gave his name only as Mr Chee. “Regular customers are the ones sustaining us now.”

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