Inventing Anna, Tinder Swindler, Elizabeth Holmes, what do they all have in common?
Being great at faking till you make it.
Don’t forget; we also have them in Singapore.
The Great Pretender
The 25-year-old Huang Chen was recently arrested for pretending to be a fund manager, among many other fake online personas, to con his victims out of more than S$50,000 using various means, including fabricating screenshots of bank transactions.
For the most part, the defendant claimed that he was a descendant of the late real estate tycoon Wee Thiam Siew.
The lies began when Huang established a company called “Cairnhill Wealth” back in 2019, under the pretences of running a fund management firm, despite the fact that he lacked the necessary license.
He then created a number of social media profiles, often sharing posts and images of his grandiose purchases of luxury items, as well as boasting the riches he amassed through foreign exchange investments.
The fake persona worked wonders; netizens bought the lies he spun, and many approached him, wanting advice and assistance with their investments.
Between the end of 2019 to the beginning of 2022, Huang received a total of S$287,520 in investments from 18 persons.
How The Lies Snowballed
Clearly, the defendant was very convincing with his lies. So much so that he managed to deceive a real estate agent into handling over three credit cards as collaterals.
In November last year, the defendant met Chen Riyi, who happened to be the driver of the private hire car Huang had booked.
Huang, learning that Chen worked as a real estate agent, put on the false persona that he was a great-grandson of the late real estate tycoon and hotelier Wee Thiam Siew and was looking for a broker to help represent him for an apartment project on Thiam Siew Avenue.
Buying into Huang’s lies, the pair met shortly after, where Huang roped Chen in on his plans to purchase a private residence on Nassim Road.
According to the terms of their agreement, Chen would first pay the defendant S$30,000 and then allow Huang to hire a legal counsel to complete the necessary paperwork to select a real estate agent. Chen can then collect a commission from Huang after the transaction is completed.
Following the agreement, Chen paid his share. A few days later, Huang told Chen that he had bought the private estate, and Chen would be receiving a commission of more than S$3.47 million.
They scheduled a meeting at Marine Bay Sands (MBS), where Huang gave Chen a screenshot of the bank transfer as evidence, leading Chen to believe that the commission would be sent to him when in reality, that’s far from the truth.
Huang then told Chen that the money might take a few days to be credited into Chen’s account, but in the meantime, he requested Chen to hand him three credit cards as collateral, to which CHen agreed.
With the credit cards, Huang spent nearly S$7,000.
Lies Falling Apart
Huang’s self-confidence in his fake persona eventually backfired on him.
The crack in his lies began when he visited Christofle, a luxury dinnerware retailer located in MBS.
Huang listed the seven sets of products he would be purchasing to the salesperson, with the total value amounting to S$7,880.
He temporarily left the store to fabricate the payment, then came back in and showed the salesperson the fake screenshot.
The salesperson then wrapped the product and handed it over, all without suspecting Huang’s deceit.
If, by this point, you thought he’d just stop there, you’ve severely underestimated this serial scammer.
Huang later employed the same scheme to cheat a high-end audio equipment store in ION Orchard and another homeware store in MBS, all totalling more than S$42,000.
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Trying To Get Away
To escape the suspicion, Huang managed to persuade a friend to lend out their Singpass profile. With his friend’s Singpass, Huang used it to report the case online and pinned the blame for all his deceits on his friend, including the forged screenshots
Basically, Huang tried to throw his innocent friend under the bus. Who needs enemies when friends like Huang exist?
The police eventually uncovered that Huang was the real perpetrator and arrested him. During their investigations, more of Huang’s lies were unravelled.
For his crime, Huang faced a total of 13 charges of deception, false reporting, use of forged documents and violation of the Securities and Future Act.
He was eventually sentenced to 13 months in prison after pleading guilty on Monday (29 May).
Be careful of who’s selling you a dream. Be very careful.
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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