Popular actresses among victims of 'heartless con artist' who cheated over $2.1m
Lin Meijiao and Chen Liping invested $460,000 with woman, who's sentenced to 12 years' jail after duping others with fake investment plans
SINGAPORE — Using fictitious foreign exchange investment schemes, a woman defrauded two individuals of more than $2.1 million.
Two prominent Singapore media personalities - actresses Chen Liping and Lin Meijiao - were also tricked into giving her money for the fake schemes.
The Straits Times reported that Wu Hong, 41, was sentenced to 12 years' jail on Tuesday (14 February); the District Judge had also earlier convicted her of five cheating charges after a trial.
The Chinese national, who was described as a "heartless con artist" by the prosecution, had duped Tam Kwong Yoeng, 50, into delivering more than $1.4 million to her; and Soh Choon Heong, 61, into handing over $734,000.
Wu had committed the offences between 2016 and 2019.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Jonathan Tan explained in his submissions, "They were so deceived that not only did they part with their own funds, but they also obtained funds from their friends and family as a result of a genuine belief in the accused's false representations."
The accused had also used the monies for her own expenses and did not make any restitution to the victims, causing them to suffer debilitating losses that they are still grappling with to date, DPP Tan added.
'Heartless con artist' deceived with fake investment schemes
In 2013, Wu met Tam at a pub and was introduced to Soh by a fengshui master on an unspecified date.
According to The Straits Times, Wu deceived them by offering fictitious investment schemes for Chinese citizens with Singapore currency for their expenditures here, mainly to gamble in local casinos.
To entice them to invest, she had purported to offer attractive returns.
The Straits Times reported that two prominent media personalities - Tan Lee Peng, popularly known as Chen Liping, and Lim Mooi Keow, who goes by Lin Meijiao - also gave Soh $460,000 for her to invest with the accused.
Wu's representations were false, as the purported investment schemes did not exist. DPP Tan pointed out that Wu also failed to explain why, both during trial and in her statements, she failed to provide any information about the alleged clients for whom she claimed to have gambled.
Tam testified that Wu had used two schemes to defraud him into giving over money and that he persisted in giving it to Wu because he trusted her.
This was also why he failed to keep any formal record of his transactions with her until he started to get suspicious once she began to evade him. He later recorded their phone conversations, according to DPP Tan.
Soh also testified that she had also trusted Wu and had alerted the police in February 2020, while Mr Tam made a police report against Wu in January 2018.
DPP Tan said Wu alleged that the pair framed her during the trial.
Offenders who cheat can be jailed and fined for up to 10 years for each count of cheating.
The Straits Times reported Lin Meijiao's manager thanked everyone for their concern on her behalf, and added that the actress would like to close the chapter and move on.
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