Man pretends to be former DPM’s brother, swindles firm of S$420k

SINGAPORE — Masquerading as then-Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng’s brother, Wong Kok Keong swindled a total of S$420,000 from a construction firm in 2007.

The ruse was discovered after a lawyer representing Manor Construction filed a police report, alleging that Wong, who bears a striking resemblance to the retired politician, had cheated three of the company’s shareholders.

Wong, 64, admitted to two charges of cheating on Monday (March 21).

Court documents showed that the small-built freelancer met the three victims through a business deal in 2007. During introductions, he responded “in the affirmative” when asked whether he was the then-DPM’s brother.

The victims felt reassured by this knowledge, said Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Hon Yi. Although the deal fell through, all four become friends.

In September 2007, Wong told the victims that he would be buying the rights to a plot of land at 8 Yung Ho Road from another company, and planned to build a commercial building there. He invited their construction firm to invest in the project.

The Option to Purchase — a right given by the developer of a property to a purchaser to buy the property — was valued at S$900,000 and the victims had to pay 20 per cent of the sum, claimed Wong.

They gave him a cheque valued at S$180,000, and he cashed it in.

In the same month, Wong told one of the victims about a Singapore Exchange-listed company named “Advanced Modules”. He spun a story about a supposed deal with the company, which would cause the shares to rise to S$0.50 each.

Wong then offered to sell the shares at Manor Construction at the market price S$0.15 each. A deal was struck, and he sold 1.6 million shares to the company for S$240,000 in October 2007.

The victims later asked for documents pertaining to both business deals, but Wong never produced them.

In April 2008, he told them that their investment into the building project and the purchase of the shares were unsuccessful, and promised to return their money.

To date, only S$209,000 has been returned to the victims, said DPP Hon.

The case will next be heard in court on April 26.