A Singaporean influencer with over 334,000 Instagram followers was sentenced to 32 months and one week in jail on 19 Mar 2025 for multiple offences related to theft, cheating, and forgery committed between April 2020 and December 2023.
Chin Tung Sheng, 26, who frequently showcased his luxury lifestyle on social media, pleaded guilty to seven charges on 7 Mar. He had been in remand since December 2023.
Here’s what he did.
Luxury Items Theft and Hotel Fraud in Sentosa
Chin repeatedly visited a bungalow for rent on Treasure Island in Sentosa between November and December 2023. During these visits, he gained access by using the passcode at the front door or through a backdoor he had unlocked during house tours.
He stole multiple Louis Vuitton items, including two large trunks, four luggage pieces of varying sizes, and two display items. The stolen goods were valued at approximately $200,000.
Chin admitted to selling these items online or through luxury resellers to pay off his debts. No restitution has been made to date.
In a separate incident in mid-July 2022, Chin booked a 13-day stay at Amara Sanctuary Resort Sentosa costing $13,200. He tricked the hotel receptionist by presenting a doctored PayNow transaction photo and forged bank documents as proof of payment.
District Judge Kenneth Chin described the influencer as a “prolific fraudster” who committed multiple similar offences over a substantial period.
The judge noted Chin’s actions were premeditated, pointing to how he had scouted the Sentosa bungalow several times at different hours while pretending to be interested in renting it.
Forgery Schemes and Document Manipulation
Between 30 Aug 2020 and 9 Apr 2021, Chin created over 25 different membership accounts and used two personal accounts to submit forged payment receipts to ION Orchard, collecting membership points that he exchanged for shopping vouchers.
The scheme was discovered when staff grew suspicious after noticing all submitted receipts across different accounts were photographs of electronically created receipts, mostly from a specific Louis Vuitton cash register.
The points were immediately redeemed as shopping vouchers totalling $76,900.
In 2020, Chin also forged multiple bank documents showing falsified account balances, including one claiming he had $1.8 billion and another showing $16.9 million. These forgeries were meant to convince potential business partners that he had strong financial backing.
He also manipulated a letter from the Prime Minister’s Office that was originally addressed to his previous company. Chin altered its contents to make it appear addressed solely to him, thanking him for helping Singapore provide medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The court heard that Chin created 26 separate emails and 27 mobile numbers to further his schemes.
In another incident on 21 Jul 2022, he cheated a food delivery rider of $63 by forging a PayNow receipt. The judge deemed the defence’s submission that this offence warranted only a day’s jail as “wholly inadequate” and instead imposed a week’s jail.
The prosecution had sought a sentence of 35 to 44 months’ jail, stating that Chin’s multiple offences over an extended period demonstrated persistence in his conduct and lack of remorse.
Before delivering the sentence, Judge Chin said the jail term was appropriate and could not be considered excessive, given the multiple offences. He added that he hoped these episodes would serve as a lesson to Chin, who responded that he had learned his lesson.
Here's a summary of the Chocolate Finance saga, simplified so even a non-finance kid can understand:
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