Man Who Operated Mask Scams on Carousell Uses Money to Buy Gold & a Rolex

Do you remember that Carouseller who cheated a victim of $175,000 after promising him that he will deliver 500 cartons of surgical masks to him but ended up not doing so?

Yep, I’m talking about 28-year-old Daryl Cheong Zhi Yong. 

And if you thought that he would have stopped at cheating someone of $175,000, you’re wrong, because he went on to cheat four more women of about $10,000 in total last week.

He Struck Again

According to charge sheets, one woman transferred $7,500 to him between 9 and 14 February, trusting that he would deliver 10 cartons and 100 boxes of surgical masks to her on Valentine’s Day.

One other woman transferred him $1,000 on 12 February for 101 boxes of surgical masks.

The third woman gave him $900 for 100 boxes of surgical masks on 10 and 11 February, and the last woman gave him $250 for 25 boxes of surgical masks on 11 February.

What Did He Do With The Money?

After scamming all these innocent victims, Cheong happily visited a Redhill pawnshop and redeemed six pieces of gold jewellery at $2,600. He also bought a Rolex Champagne Computer Diamond Dial watch for $7,080 there.

Afterwards, he went to a shop in Geylang and bought 11 pieces of gold jewellery with $9,000 of the remaining money.

His shopping spree ended when he was later found to have $9,100 of cash with him at his Hougang flat, and he got arrested the following day.

Court Hearing

He was previously charged on 15 February for cheating a Carousell buyer of $175,000 for 500 cartons of surgical masks, and was given 12 more charges today for cheating those four women and concealing criminal proceeds by converting them into pawn shop items.

He has been remanded since 15 February and will have to return to court on 6 March.

In his first court hearing, he pleaded with the judge and claimed that he was a victim of someone else’s schemes, that he was just a third party supplier of the masks.

Right.

The prosecutor charged him for taking “advantage of the current climate, where individuals are seeking to buy surgical masks in view of the coronavirus disease outbreak”.

He will face a maximum of 10 years in jail and a fine per charge if he is found to be guilty of cheating.

He will also face a maximum of 10 years in jail and fined a maximum of $500,000 per charge if he is found convicted of converting or concealing criminal proceeds.