Man charged with cheating 77 people over S$1 million, molesting woman in hotel room

SINGAPORE — A 54-year-old man, who is said to have cheated about S$1.03 million from more than 70 victims between 2016 and 2017, was among three people charged in court on Tuesday (June 18) with commercial crime-related offences.

Another case involved an interior designer who allegedly forged two of his company’s cheques, amounting to S$22,520, the police said in a news release on Monday. The third case saw a branch manager at a Vietnamese restaurant accused of siphoning part of the eatery's daily earnings.  

Chong Wee Yew

• He allegedly cheated 77 people out of S$1,033,650 in total by promising them high yields through an investment scheme. The police were alerted to the case on Oct 27, 2017.

• He faces 121 charges in total, with most of them for cheating and criminal breach of trust.

• He also faces five charges of using criminal force to molest a 28-year-old woman in a Marina Bay Sands hotel room on three occasions, between Sept 27 and Oct 18, 2017. He allegedly massaged her inner thighs, touched her chest and kissed her forehead, among others. She cannot be named due to a court gag order to protect her identity.

• The court has set his bail at S$200,000 bail and he will appear in court again on July 9.

• If convicted of cheating, he could be jailed up to 10 years and fined. Criminal breach of trust carries a maximum punishment of seven years’ jail, a fine, or both. Using criminal force to outrage a woman’s modesty is punishable by up to two years’ jail, a fine, caning, or any combination of the three.

See Kah Poh Alan

• The 43-year-old was employed as an interior designer at an interior design company.

• He was charged with two counts of forging a document purporting to be valuable security around Dec 22, 2015 and March 5, 2016. He allegedly did this by forging POSB Bank cheques amounting to S$22,520 and putting his own name as the payee.

• On Sept 16, 2018, he is said to have stolen a car air-conditioning deodoriser at a petrol station.

• About a week later, on Sept 25, 2018, he allegedly was in possession of a car charger suspected of being stolen property or fraudulently obtained, which he could not satisfactorily account for.

• Finally, on Feb 25 this year at about 2.50am, he is accused of stealing a perfume bottle and an iPhone case from Mustafa Centre.

• He was offered S$15,000 bail and will appear in court again on July 16.

• Forgery of valuable security carries a maximum punishment of 15 years’ jail and a fine. Theft in dwelling carries a maximum punishment of seven years’ jail and a fine, while those convicted of fraudulent possession of property can be jailed up to one year, fined up to S$3,000, or both.

Leong Wee Hiang

• The 40-year-old was employed as a branch manager at So Pho Restaurant, which sells Vietnamese food, in White Sands Shopping Mall in Pasir Ris.

• He faces one charge of criminal breach of trust. Between Aug 12 and Aug 29, 2018, he allegedly pocketed S$13,874.67 of the restaurant’s daily cash sales.

• He is also accused of stealing S$345.67 in petty cash from the restaurant sometime in August 2018.

• Similar to See, Leong was offered S$15,000 bail and will appear in court again on July 16.

• If convicted of theft as a servant, he could be jailed up to seven years and fined.