Nigerian's extortion bid grinds to a halt
Targeting men on the dating app Grindr, he would meet them for sex and film them before demanding payment.
Nigerian Okereke Ransom Okechukwu, 34, was jailed for a year on Monday after pleading guilty to two counts of criminal intimidation.
His victims were a 36-year-old Singapore permanent resident (PR) and a 32-year-old Australian man.
Ransom met his first victim on May 19 last year.
After chatting with each other on Grindr, the Singaporean PR invited Ransom over to his unit.
They met there at 4.30pm and the man performed a sex act on him.
As he was doing so, Ransom filmed him using his mobile phone.
When they were done, Ransom demanded $500 from the man, threatening to circulate the video and ruin the man's reputation.
The man eventually did so but later called the police and Ransom fled.
Ransom met his second victim at M Hotel on the evening of May 22 last year.
After they had undressed, Ransom took out his phone and claimed he wanted to watch pornography as the man performed a sex act on him.
Just as the man was about to do so, he heard a sound from Ransom's phone indicating a video recording.
They stopped and got dressed, and Ransom later demanded $1,500 in payment.
When the man refused, Ransom said he had a gun and would kill the man if payment was not made.
The victim tricked him into leaving the room and locked him outside before calling hotel security.
Ransom fled before the staff arrived.
He was arrested the next day at about 10.30pm at a Hotel 81 in Geylang.
For criminal intimidation, Ransom could have been jailed up to two years, or fined, or both.
For the death threat, Ransom could have been jailed up to 10 years, or fined, or both.
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