SINGAPORE — Trying to recoup his gambling debts, a tourist from China visiting Singapore allegedly decided that he could stage his own kidnapping here to scare his relatives into paying RMB30,000 (around S$5,500) as ransom.

It backfired when his relatives contacted the Singapore's authorities and did not accede to the ransom request.

On Monday (March 11), Liu Changjian, 33, was handed a charge of attempted cheating. Pleading not guilty, he appeared in court via video-link while on remand.

He will return to court on March 25 for a pre-trial conference.

In a statement to the media, the police here said that they received a call for assistance on March 9 at about 6.50am that Liu was allegedly kidnapped.

Liu was supposed to return to China on March 6 but did not do so.

His aunt received messages from an unknown person on messaging application WeChat, claiming that Liu was kidnapped and that she needed to pay the ransom for the release of her nephew.

"In the text messages, the unknown person forwarded the photo of the man’s travel document as proof," the police said.

The aunt then informed Liu's father. From China, the father called the Singapore Police Force for assistance.

"Within three hours of (receiving) the police report, officers managed to locate the man in the vicinity of Marina Bay," the police said.

Liu was found safe.

Further investigations by the police revealed that Liu had gambling debts of between S$20,000 and S$30,000.

To recoup his debts, he allegedly pretended to be an unknown person and sent threatening messages to his aunt in the hope of getting the ransom money.

"The police take a serious view against any person who may be involved in scams, whether knowingly or unwittingly," the police said. "Anyone found to be involved in such scams will be subjected to police investigations and may be prosecuted." 

For attempting to cheat others, Liu can be jailed for up to 10 years or fined, or both.