Married couple in Singapore plead guilty to cheating wife’s boyfriend in 2015
A married couple in Singapore cheated the wife’s boyfriend of S$220,000 by luring him into a fake property investment scheme, though the husband was unaware of the affair at the time.
The couple identified as Eric Ong Chee Wei, 50, and Felicia Tay Bee Ling, 49, worked together to fabricate discounted property deals to cheat Mr David Tan, 48, according to court documents seen by The Straits Times.
Ong and Tay. Source: Shin Min Daily News
Couple decide to cheat wife’s boyfriend in 2015
The court heard that Ong was a property agent from 1999 to 2006, after which he worked odd jobs.
Tay was a housewife. She met Mr Tan in 2010, and the two had an affair that lasted from 2014 to 2017.
In September 2015, the couple decided to cheat Mr Tan.
They came up with a scheme where Tay would tell Mr Tan about supposed investment opportunities in condominium units, which he could subsequently sell for large profits.
In reality, these units did not exist.
Wife tells boyfriend of ‘investment opportunities’ in Orchard condo
On Ong’s instructions, Tay told Mr Tan that she had “investment opportunities” involving units at Residences @ Emerald Hill, a condo in the Orchard area.
Source: Google Maps
Developers were willing to offload unsold properties to agents at discounted rates due to the “poor property market”, she claimed.
She also said that her husband was such an agent, given his background in the property industry.
While Mr Tan had not met Ong, he knew that he was Tay’s husband.
Wife’s boyfriend promised profits of more than S$1.7M by couple
Tay told Mr Tan that she could help him buy seven units directly from the developer at below market rate.
The units could subsequently be resold at high prices, she claimed, with profits of more than S$1.7 million within three months when the units were sold.
She also advised the victim not to tell “outsiders” about these so-called investment opportunities as they were “exclusive offers”.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Kiera Yu said he trusted her because they were in a relationship. He also thought Ong was in the property line.
Victim given documents allegedly issued under OrangeTee
To hook him in further, Tay even sent Mr Tan handwritten records of the “investments”.
Ong provided Tay with hard copies of option-to-purchase (OTP) forms, allegedly issued through a salesperson affiliated with real estate company OrangeTee.
Tay filled up an OTP form for each unit and sent screenshots of the forged documents to Mr Tan via WhatsApp.
Ong had become acquainted with the salesperson during his time as a property agent, but the salesperson was unaware that Ong had used the OTP forms issued in their name to cheat Mr Tan.
Source: Pexels on Canva. Photo for illustration purposes only.
Victim paid S$220K in ‘security deposits’
The couple’s intention was to cheat Mr Tan into paying the non-existent “security deposits” for the units, DPP Yu said.
He ended up paying S$220,000 to Tay as “security deposits” over seven occasions from September to November 2015.
However, six of the seven units that Mr Tan was supposedly purchasing did not exist.
The remaining unit was not for sale, so the couple knew that they had no basis to offer it as an “investment”.
No official documents on the sale and purchase of the units were ever provided to the victim.
Wife prepares ‘IOU’ after victim starts to suspect something
By January 2016, Mr Tan did not receive any investment returns and started to suspect something.
When he confronted Tay, she prepared an “IOU document” with Ong’s information and signature, dated 8 Jan 2016.
She did this to convince the victim that Ong would return the money owed to him.
Victim made police report in 2019
Mr Tan and Tay ended their relationship in March 2017.
On 11 Dec 2019, Mr Tan contacted OrangeTee and was informed that none of the transactions on the OTP forms were legitimate.
The following day, he made a police report. The couple was arrested in June 2022.
Couple to be sentenced in July
In court on Tuesday (24 June), Tay and Ong pleaded guilty to one charge of cheating each.
They will be sentenced in July.
Ong has since compensated Mr Tan S$10,000.
Court documents did not state if Tay and Ong are still married.
Also read: MS Features: Man in S’pore cheated of more than S$13K, finds out love interest has boyfriend
MS Features: Man in S’pore cheated of more than S$13K, finds out love interest has boyfriend
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News.
