Former property agent with gambling debts cheated family into paying his ‘kidnappers’
SINGAPORE — He not only pocketed money from his clients, but also told his family members to pay for his release from “kidnappers” in Malaysia so that he could pay off his gambling debts.

Joe Tan Kia Hian left Singapore for Genting Highlands to gamble. He lost all his money there, save for S$1,000 in one of his bank accounts.
SINGAPORE — He not only pocketed money from his clients, but also told his family members to pay for his release from “kidnappers” in Malaysia so that he could pay off his gambling debts.
In all, Joe Tan Kia Hian took S$88,200 over a year — mostly from his sister, wife and cancer-stricken father. His crime spree only came to an end when he was arrested in Genting Highlands in March last year.
On Thursday (Feb 28), the 41-year-old was sentenced to nearly two years — or 23 months — behind bars.
He pleaded guilty to nine charges of criminal breach of trust, cheating, and forgery for the purpose of cheating, with another 18 similar charges taken into consideration for sentencing.
Tan was a former marketing director with real estate firm Huttons Asia. He did not make any restitution to his victims.
The court heard that he devised a plan to cheat Ms Teo Siew Choo and two of her tenants in February 2017. He was Ms Teo’s property agent and she wanted to lease out a property in Geylang.
Tan then manipulated the tenancy agreements.
On Ms Teo’s copy, he put the rent as S$2,400 and the security deposit as S$4,800. He then forged the tenants’ signature on the form and got Ms Teo to sign it.
But on the tenants’ agreement, he listed a higher rent of S$2,600 and a higher security deposit of S$5,200, and forged Ms Teo’s signature on it.
Tan got the tenants to pay him S$2,600 every month directly into his OCBC bank account, pocketing the S$200 difference before he transferred S$2,400 to Ms Teo. He also kept for himself the difference of S$400 for the security deposit.
Twice, he took the entire sum of S$2,600 that the tenants transferred to him.
Tan also cheated two other landlords who were his clients. He banked in a S$4,600 cheque that one tenant handed to him, and on a separate occasion, got another to transfer him S$4,100 in rental fees to his bank account.
By then, Tan was in Genting Highlands, Malaysia and had run out of money. He withdrew the money and used it all to gamble.
COOKED UP KIDNAP SCAM
On March 9 last year, Tan sent his sister a text message via WhatsApp to say that he did not want to become a convict and go to jail. He said he wanted to “start afresh somewhere in the world”, and asked for his family’s help because he “only (has) a small window to leave”.
She advised him to call a social service to address the root of his gambling addiction and money management issues.
But the next day, he left Singapore for Genting Highlands to gamble. He lost all his money there, save for S$1,000 in one of his bank accounts.
He then borrowed 30,000 ringgit (about S$10,000) from a Malaysian moneylending syndicate to carry on gambling. He was told that he needed to have 60,000 ringgit on the table to keep the 30,000 ringgit, but he would need to repay 60,000 ringgit if he lost the original sum.
Tan lost all the rolling chips worth 30,000 ringgit within five hours, and had to repay 60,000 ringgit the next day.
He returned to his hotel room where two runners from the syndicate watched him to prevent him from running away. One of them suggested he tell his family that he was kidnapped in order to get money.
On March 13, he sent messages via WhatsApp to his father and wife saying that he had been taken hostage and his kidnappers wanted 100,000 ringgit. He also told them his abductors would kill him or chop off his fingers.
His wife then made a police report and the Royal Malaysia Police were also alerted.
Two days later, she transferred S$5,000 to a specified UOB bank account.
That same day, Tan sent a text message to his sister saying that he was being held by people from a syndicate and they would cut off one finger for every 30 minutes past the deadline for each payment.
In order to make things more convincing, one of the runners started sending text messages to Tan’s sister in Chinese using Tan’s mobile phone, threatening to harm him. The next day, she transferred S$5,000 to the UOB account and another S$16,000 the day after. These sums were provided by Tan’s father, who had bladder cancer.
On March 17, at about 1am, Tan was arrested by Malaysian police at the casino and taken back to Singapore.
‘NOTHING SHORT OF APPALLING’
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ho Lian-Yi sought at least 25 months’ imprisonment, noting that kidnapping scams “cause public disquiet by their very nature”.
“It is even more aggravating where the loved ones are themselves the scammers, not only because this is an especially egregious breach of the sacred bonds of family but also because such scams are more convincing and therefore more likely to succeed,” he added.
In mitigation, Tan’s lawyer, Mr Vikram Ranjan Ramasamy, said that his client enjoyed a good reputation and success as a property agent before 2016. His investments in China then turned sour, and he lost his savings and racked up about S$300,000 in debt.
“He borrowed from licensed moneylenders and resorted to gambling, but this only worsened his financial situation and he was saddled with more debt,” Mr Ranjan said.
“It was due to sheer desperation that he committed the (Geylang) offences.”
He added that Tan was a “filial son”, having paid for his father’s cancer treatment with his own money and Central Provident Fund contributions.
The lawyer also told the court that Tan has agreed to go for counselling for his gambling problems.
In sentencing Tan, District Judge Ong Luan Tze said that his “conduct as a property agent, son, husband and brother was nothing short of appalling”.
“I hope for the sake of your family that your remorse is genuine,” she added.