Police have arrested four men, aged between 48 and 53 for cheating.
On 13 January 2015, Police received a report that three men had deceived an elderly woman of $10,000.
Preliminary investigations revealed that two of the suspects had approached the victim one after another, to convince her to purchase capacitors at cost price before selling them off to the third suspect at a higher price to make quick profit. They managed to convince the victim that the third suspect was a genuine buyer, and she parted with her life savings amounting to $10,000, after falling for the scam. The trio were uncontactable after receiving the money.
Upon receiving the information, officers from Bedok Police Division conducted intensive enquiries and established the identities, as well as, the whereabouts of the trio.
They were subsequently arrested at Balestier on 15 January 2015. A fourth man, who was with the trio, was also arrested after it was established that he had a share of the loot. Packets of capacitors, monies, bags and mobile phones were seized as case exhibits.
The four men will be charged in Court on 17 January 2015 for Cheating with Common Intention under Section 420 read with Section 34 of the Penal Code. If convicted of cheating, they are liable to be punished with imprisonment for a term of up to 10 years, and shall also be liable to a fine.
Police would like to alert the public to such scams and advise them to adopt the following precautions:
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Be extra careful when befriending strangers.
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A criminal may spend days to build rapport and trust with you before conducting the crime, e.g. asking for money or other favours. Think twice before trusting someone whom you’ve just met or interacted with.
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Be wary of get-rich-quick offers from strangers. If an offer sounds too good to be true, it is probably a scam.
Anyone who encounters similar incidents may call the Police hotline at 1800 – 255 0000 or ‘999’ if urgent Police assistance is required.
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SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
16 January 2015 @ 6:50 PM