Teen on probation posed as female sex workers online to cheat victims
A teenager was on probation for fighting in a public place when he reoffended by posing as female sex workers online to cheat two men of $4,000 in total.
Jerell Lim Jing Kai, now 19, had his probation revoked after pleading guilty to his latest offences - five counts of cheating and one count of dealing with the benefits of criminal activities.
The Singaporean teenager was sentenced to at least six months of reformative training yesterday.
In February last year, he hatched a plan to cheat others of cash and went on classifieds website Locanto to create a fictitious profile as a 20-year-old woman called Bernise.
He also created an account on messaging platform Telegram with the username "bernisewz". Lim then approached a friend and asked to "borrow" his bank account.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Lai Yan said: "(The friend) would receive money in his bank account and withdraw the money at the accused's instruction, and would be paid 20 per cent of the money he received in his bank account as commission.
"(The friend) agreed... and provided the accused with his bank account and the PayLah QR code linked to his bank account."
On March 27 last year, a 24-year-old man, who cannot be named due to a gag order, found Bernise's profile on Locanto and sent a message. Posing as Bernise, Lim replied and offered sexual services. They then made arrangements to meet up.
The DPP added: "However, 'Bernise' then informed the victim that ('her') sister was hospitalised, and that she was therefore unable to meet up with him. 'Bernise' then asked the victim for a loan to help with her sister's medical bill. As proof, 'Bernise' sent the victim a photo of a medical bill."
The next day, the victim transferred $1,000 into the bank account belonging to Lim's friend, who kept $200 as commission and handed $800 to Lim.
Using a similar method, Lim posed as another female sex worker online, "Felicia", and cheated a second victim of $480.
Separately, Lim also opened a bank account this year and allowed the proceeds of an unrelated investment scam totalling more than $191,000 to be transferred into it.
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