Man forges mother’s signature to sell Rolls Royce & Mini Cooper to pay off ‘diao hua’ debts
In a bid to pay off debts incurred from buying flower garlands for female singers at nightclubs, aka ‘diao hua’, a man forged his mother’s signature to sell off her luxury vehicles.
He also got a friend from Taiwan to pretend to be his mother so he could obtain a deposit payment for the vehicles.
Source: Auto-Data.net. For illustration purposes only.
For forging sales and purchase agreements, the son was sentenced to 12 weeks’ jail.
Man forges mother’s signature to sell Rolls Royce and Mini Cooper for S$830,000 to pay off ‘diao hua’ debts
Citing a judgement made on Wednesday (27 March), Channel NewsAsia (CNA) reported that the man — known as Liu Kuei Liang — found himself in debt around August 2022.
The report did not state the size of the debts, but said Liu incurred them from frequenting clubs and spending on flower garlands, which he would hang around singers’ necks.
Eager to pay off the debts, Liu decided to sell off two cars that belonged to his mother:
- Rolls Royce Dawn 6.6 V12
- Mini Cooper SE
Source: BMW Press – BMW Group. For illustration purposes only.
Liu then got in touch with Mr Low Lye Seng — a representative from car dealer Autoart Singapore. They soon reached an agreement to sell the Rolls Royce for S$700,000 and the Mini Cooper for S$130,000.
When it came time to sign the purchase agreement, Mr Liu claimed that his mother was in Taiwan when she was, in fact, in Singapore.
He said he would get her signature when she returned, but proceeded to forge his mother’s signature before sending the agreements back.
When another Autoart representative asked Liu for his mother’s phone number, he instead gave a number that belonged to his friend in Taiwan, with whom he’s in cahoots.
Liu’s friend approved the sale of the two vehicles when Autoart called the number.
Believing that Liu’s mother had given the green light for the deal, Mr Low authorised a deposit payment:
- S$100,000 for the Rolls Royce
- S$50,000 for Mini Cooper
About two weeks later, Liu’s mother lodged a police report claiming her son had forged her signature to sell the vehicles without her permission.
CNA reported that the two vehicles were returned to Liu’s mother in exchange for a S$150,000 refund.
Mother forgave son and won’t seek reimbursement of S$150,000 payment
Speaking in court, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Vishnu Menon pointed out that there was “planning and premeditation involved”, especially since Liu roped in his friend in Taiwan to “cement the (that) lie.”
Pointing out that the huge sums involved, DPP Menon called for a jail term of between four and six months.
Defence lawyer Vijai Dharamdas Parwani, on the other hand, sought a “high fine”.
Attempting to mitigate his client’s punishment, he said it was a “momentary lapse of judgement” on Liu’s part. He thought he could obtain “temporary financing” for his debts by selling the cars.
Additionally, Liu’s mother had forgiven her son and won’t be asking him to reimburse the deposit moment, he said, adding that she had lodged the police report “in a moment of pique”.
The prosecution, however, argued that the S$150,000 repayment was made by Liu’s mother and not Liu himself.
DPP Menon also pointed out that a fine was inappropriate as there was “nothing to stop” Liu’s mother from paying off the fine for her son.
Judge pointed out that accused did not make restiatution
District Judge Brenda Chua agreed with some of the DPP’s points, stating that Liu neither made restitution nor amends:
The accused relied on the mother to rescue him from his mistakes.
Ms Chua also pointed out that there were two victims in the case — the car dealer and the mother.
In the latter’s case, she even paid to have the cars returned despite being a victim herself.
She also concurred with DPP Menon’s point that the restitution did not come from Liu himself and as such, doesn’t prove that he’s remorseful.
Liu was sentenced to two weeks jail for two charges of forging sales and purchase agreements. He plans to appeal the sentence.
Also read: Ex-OCBC Bank Teller Steals Nearly S$10K For Gambling Habit, Gets 26 Weeks’ Jail
Ex-OCBC Bank Teller Steals Nearly S$10K For Gambling Habit, Gets 26 Weeks’ Jail
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Featured image adapted from jct600 and by MS News. Picture on the left is for illustration purposes only.
