28 months' jail for man who kept scamming victims even while out on bail
SINGAPORE – A man ran a series of renovation and rental scams, cheating almost 70 people of about $78,000 which he then used for personal expenses like a hotel stay and alcohol.
Tan Kai Wen, 24, had been arrested and released on bail three times, but kept scamming victims until he was finally kept in remand.
On June 11, he was jailed for 28 months after he pleaded guilty to four cheating charges. Another eight cheating charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.
The court heard that he has used up all the money he cheated people of and has made no restitution.
Tan, a Malaysian, was previously working as a salesman at a renovation company here in late 2021.
He was facing financial difficulties at the time, and came up with a plan to cheat clients by having them make payments to his bank account instead of the company’s, for tabletops and other renovation work.
Tan began cheating clients from November 2021, getting four of them to transfer more than $11,000 in total to him.
The ruse involved excuses such as the company’s account being closed on Saturdays and that he was able to offer discounts.