Couple charged with cheating victims of over $650,000
A couple were charged in court yesterday with cheating six victims of over $650,000.
Ong Choon Lin, 66, a Singaporean, and his wife, Ng Kim Yew, 60, a Malaysian who is a Singapore permanent resident, are facing 29 similar counts of cheating. The offences were allegedly committed between 2004 and last year.
Court papers said that the couple allegedly promised their victims talismans, which would be specially dedicated to them from a spiritual master in Thailand.
The talismans came in several forms such as an "international" talisman, a "business" talisman, and a "wealth" talisman, among others.
One victim allegedly parted with $308,688 and was said to have handed over as much as $38,880 each time on several occasions.
The other victims were allegedly cheated of amounts of between $10,580 and $37,600.
Ong and Ng were first charged with one count of cheating on March 1.
They were slapped with 28 more cheating charges yesterday.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tay Jingxi called for a $500,000 bail for each victim and said that the 29 charges involved serious amounts of money.
But defence counsel Anil Balchandani argued that the amount was unreasonable as both the accused were married and retired and that the family could only come up with $25,000.
The court eventually set bail at $300,000 for each accused.
The case was adjourned to April 28.
If convicted, each accused faces up to 10 years' jail with fine per charge.
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