Troubled running coach Lexxus Tan arrested for alleged cheating

SINGAPORE — A running coach who allegedly duped recreational athletes into lending him money and defaulted on payment has been arrested and investigated for cheating.

Earlier this month, TODAY reported that past and present members of local running club F1 Runners had reported the club founder Lexxus Tan to the cops for duping them into lending him money and not paying them back.

When approached by TODAY, the police's spokesperson confirmed that Mr Tan, 46, has been arrested and investigations are ongoing. It declined to share the total number of reports lodged.

TODAY understands that he was arrested on Thursday (Jun 28).

Led by Mr Tan, a distance runner and the club’s head coach, F1 Runners trains recreational athletes and enthusiasts in marathon and distance running.

It also organises trips to overseas marathons for its members, who pay Mr Tan for running programmes with the club.

Last Friday, in an email to runners who had signed up with him for this Saturday’s Gold Coast Marathon, Mr Tan announced that he was "unable to proceed with the trip" due to his "current situation".

He wrote: "With the current situation surrounding me, I am unable to proceed with the trip... I would like to apologise for this turn of events... You may wish to make your own arrangement using the tour agent that you are familiar with."

Mr Tan added that he will arrange for a refund of fees paid, excluding race registration fees. About 80 runners had signed up with Mr Tan for this race.

Each person is believed to have paid around S$1,350 to Mr Tan for the Gold Coast Marathon, the price of which was supposed to cover the race, flights, accommodation, and other travel expenses.

According to the marathon’s website, runners outside Australia and New Zealand pay A$185 (S$186) to enter the 42km race.

One of the 80 runners, Mr Steven Wong, said he received a call from the police on Friday (June 29) informing him of Mr Lexxus Tan's arrest.

"The police officer asked if I was a Gold Coast Marathon runner and cheated by Lexxus,” Mr Wong told TODAY. “She (advised) me to make my own police report... She said she is calling those who have not, and told me go to nearest police post and cite ‘Lexxus Tan’.”

But Mr Wong decided against lodging the report.

"Others have already done so. What's the difference with me adding to it... Whether one person or 80 of us (lodge a report) will not (revive) our hopes of running this weekend,” he said.

“We’ll just let the law take its own course."

Another runner, who wanted only to be known as Mr Ang, paid around S$2,700 for himself and his wife for the marathon. The 46-year-old said the travel agent had allowed them to defer their slots at Gold Coast Marathon for a year, but he had not received the refund as promised by Mr Tan.

Mr Ang said of Mr Tan’s arrest: "I think it is very sad. He has been in this line for so long and we all look up to him for doing something to promote running and health... This is a step backwards and will hamper trust in running clubs."

Those who signed up with Mr Tan for the upcoming Berlin and Tokyo marathons - to be held this September and in March next year, respectively - have also been affected, TODAY has learnt.

Runners TODAY spoke to said Mr Tan often sought financial help from his club's members at the 11th hour to pay travel agencies for the running trips he organises - despite the fact that runners had already paid Mr Tan in advance for the trip.

For instance, he went to ex-F1 Runners Derrick Teng and Cindy Ong one night last November for a S$30,000 loan, pleading that the travel agency had threatened to cancel flights for the Osaka Marathon on Nov 26 if it did not receive the money owed to the company that night.

The couple decided to help Mr Tan out. They loaned him S$9,000 even though they had not signed up with him for the race, but had not received repayment since. They had also lodged a police report against him.

Several runners had complained to the Singapore Tourism Board that Mr Tan was also acting as a travel agent without a license. Under the Travel Agents Act, any person found guilty of carrying on the business of a travel agent without a valid travel agent licence could be fined up to S$10,000 and jailed up to two years.

Travel agency Scenic Travel had also brought a civil suit against Mr Tan last month, for breaching a contract involving overseas races.