Jail, fine for S’porean man who persuaded China national to become a prostitute

• Gay Peng Cheng told the 32-year-old woman that she could get a job as a singer in Singapore
• When arrived, he told her there were no such opportunities 
• He suggested that she prostitute herself online and helped her set up profiles on vice-related websites
   

SINGAPORE — He promised her a job as a singer in an entertainment outlet in Singapore but when she arrived here from China, he told her there were no opportunities available yet.

Gay Peng Cheng then suggested that she prostitute herself online to earn money. She agreed as she was broke.

She serviced at least seven different customers before reporting a potential rape and robbery.

On Wednesday (Sept 30), Gay, 42, was jailed five months and three weeks and fined S$1,000.

He was also disqualified from driving for three years. He was already under a 17-month driving ban when he took the victim from her hotel to the apartment where she lived.

Gay had taken the keys to his brother’s rental car and drove it without the other man’s consent.

He pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one count of procuring a prostitute under the Women’s Charter and three other charges under the Road Traffic Act and Motor Vehicles (Third-Party Risks and Compensation) Act.

District Judge Carol Ling took into consideration another charge of living on a prostitute’s earnings for sentencing.

ASKED FOR S$12,000 IN AGENT FEES

The court heard that the victim, now 32, met Gay in Hong Kong in mid-2017. They kept in touch through the WeChat mobile application.

He told her that he worked as a job agent in Singapore and that he could get her a job as a singer for six months with a monthly salary of S$700.

However, he needed 60,000 yuan (S$12,000) to act as her agent.

She agreed and transferred him 20,000 yuan.

When he told her that he had obtained documentation from the Ministry of Manpower for her to work in Singapore, she flew here on May 23, 2018.

Gay picked her up from Changi Airport in his car and took her to Hotel Boss along Jalan Sultan Road.

The next afternoon, he took her to an unknown apartment and she handed over the remaining 40,000 yuan. He lied that he was in the midst of arranging her job as a singer. He left her with the apartment key and instructions on how to pay the rent of S$800 for 10 days, saying he would contact her again.

Over the next few days, he contacted her a few times to say there were no jobs yet.

In early June 2018, he eventually asked for S$2,000 in the form of “protection money” while she was here and she complied.

WANTED ‘SEXY PHOTOS’ FROM HER

In mid-June 2018, he told her that there was no job available and suggested that she prostitute herself online.

“After a few days of the accused pressuring her to do as he suggested, she agreed as she had run out of money,” Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Chong Yong told the court. 

Gay helped her to set up profiles on three vice-related websites, advertising her sexual services for 5,000 yuan.

He also asked her to take “sexy photos” of herself and send them to him through WeChat.

On June 19, 2018, he brought her to Hotel Jen Tanglin along Cuscaden Road and taught her how to book a room online for five days. He also gave her the contact of someone from whom she could buy condoms.

He told her that she had to pay him S$2,000 after this period.

When customers contacted her, she serviced them in the room but stopped after five days when she made a police report that she had been raped and robbed. 

Court documents did not reveal the outcome of her complaints.

She also told the police about Gay’s involvement in her prostitution. 

Later that afternoon, after the police report was made, Gay drove her from the hotel back to the apartment and stopped contacting her.

He was arrested on Sept 26, 2018.

In mitigation, his lawyer Diana Ngiam said that he had always intended to plead guilty.

She added that was “no clear evidence” that Gay planned to make her work as a prostitute when he brought the victim over, and “no evidence of forced or particular pressure” for her to do so.

“The accused kept asking if she wanted to take it up and she did eventually,” Ms Ngiam told the court.

DPP Chong responded that by the time the victim got to Singapore, it was clearly Gay’s intent to procure her for prostitution.

For procuring a prostitute, Gay could have been jailed up to five years and fined up to S$10,000.