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On trial: Elderly woman who used Lee Kuan Yew's name to cheat man of $130,000

Madam Tan Hwee Ngo, a 69-year-old Singaporean, is contesting 337 counts of cheating 74-year-old Tan Soy Kiang between June 1999 and December 2013. (Yahoo News Singapore file photo)
Madam Tan Hwee Ngo, a 69-year-old Singaporean, is contesting 337 counts of cheating 74-year-old Tan Soy Kiang between June 1999 and December 2013. (Yahoo News Singapore file photo)

Invoking the name of the late former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, an elderly woman allegedly cheated a man of his savings and salary for more than a decade.

At the State Courts on Wednesday (9 January), the first day of 69-year-old Tan Hwee Ngo’s trial, the prosecution argued that had deceived Tan Soy Kiang, 74, into believing that he needed to make payments to the late Lee.

According to local media reports, she cheated the victim of at least $130,000.

Tan Hwee Ngo currently faces 337 counts of cheating the victim between June 1999 and December 2013. The victim has worked as a petrol pump attendant since 1992 and currently holds a second job as a cleaner.

The accused is alleged to have committed the offences along with Boo Sok Hiang, who introduced her to victim sometime before 1999. Boo died on 21 April 2016, after giving her statement about the alleged offences to the police.

Victim withdrew entire CPF savings

The scam induced Tan Soy Kiang to withdraw all his Central Provident Fund savings, amounting to $53,131.64, in June 1999 after he turned 55 years old.

The amount was moved into his POSB bank account and the ATM card was given to Boo, who would then make withdrawals and hand the money to the accused.

Tan Hwee Ngo also deceived Tan Soy Kiang into handing over $500 of his monthly salary to Boo from 2000 to 2013 using the same ruse. Boo would then hand the money to Madam Tan.

The alleged offences continued until February 2014, when Tan’s niece, Pamela Lim, returned from Australia and discovered what was happening. The niece and her husband, Andy Ong, confronted Boo and Tan Hwee Ngo to put a stop to their scheme.

Lim lodged a police report on 3 February 2014 stating that Tan had been giving all his income to “an unknown female subject”.

Scam briefly disrupted

All the involved parties allegedly met at a MOS Burger outlet to discuss the matter two days later. Lim recorded parts of the meeting on her mobile phone, according to the prosecution. The accused, victim and Boo signed a document during the meeting, the details of which have not been revealed in court.

Despite this disruption to the scam, the accused and Boo resumed it shortly after the meeting.

The prosecution said it would produce evidence from the victim’s present and former employers, who tried to assist him when they heard that he was being cheated. Lim and Ong are expected to testify as to how they uncovered the scheme and confronted Tan Hwee Ngo about it.

The accused, who is represented by lawyer T.M. Sinnadurai, will call to the stand her relative and her son as defence witnesses.

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