Woman jailed 6 months over 'ghost' swindle
By Elena Chong, Court Correspondent
The Straits Times
Saturday, Dec 08, 2012
SINGAPORE - When a friend complained of being followed by ghosts, Jasmine Soh Fang Ling came up with a devious plan to take advantage of the situation.
She pretended she had an "auntie" who could perform rituals to get rid of the phantoms - in return for a fee.
On Tuesday, the 26-year-old was sentenced to six months in jail for cheating.
The court heard that she relieved Ms Ong Hwee Lay of more than $14,000 over about five months.
She is even believed to have regularly phoned the victim at night and made ghostly noises down the line. The women became friends in 2003, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Navindraram Naidu.
Ms Ong, 31, who was working as a sales assistant at an office in Paya Lebar, told Soh that she was having bad luck and was not comfortable at her company.
She also said her office was haunted by ghosts, who were following her.
Not long after that, Ms Ong resigned and was out of a stable job for about five months. Soh, who worked at MediaCorp, needed money to fund her spending habits, which included playing online games.
She decided to cheat Ms Ong by telling her that two of the ghosts in the office had followed her home and given her bad luck.
Between November 2009 and April 2010, she tricked her friend into giving her various sums of money to pay for the "medium".
The court heard that Ms Ong cashed in her insurance policies, giving the proceeds of $2,500 to Soh.
In February 2010, she handed over $7,600. The following month, Soh asked for more money so that her "auntie" could perform further rituals because the "ghost" was still hovering around.
When the victim said she had no more funds, Soh suggested she go to a licensed moneylender.
Ms Ong borrowed $1,770, which she passed on to her friend. In April 2010, Soh tried to cheat the victim of another $2,427 by using the money to pay her father's SingTel bills.
The court also heard that between March and May 2010, Ms Ong received phone calls every night from a person who made ghostly noises.
Soh pleaded guilty to four charges of cheating and one of attempted cheating. She has paid back $14,232 to the victim.
District Judge Lee Poh Choo said there were many aggravating factors which called for a jail sentence.
"I would have viewed it differently... taking a more lenient stand if the money was for necessities or for urgent needs," she said.
"The way the money was spent was absolutely unwarranted."
[email protected]
By Elena Chong, Court Correspondent
The Straits Times
Saturday, Dec 08, 2012
SINGAPORE - When a friend complained of being followed by ghosts, Jasmine Soh Fang Ling came up with a devious plan to take advantage of the situation.
She pretended she had an "auntie" who could perform rituals to get rid of the phantoms - in return for a fee.
On Tuesday, the 26-year-old was sentenced to six months in jail for cheating.
The court heard that she relieved Ms Ong Hwee Lay of more than $14,000 over about five months.
She is even believed to have regularly phoned the victim at night and made ghostly noises down the line. The women became friends in 2003, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Navindraram Naidu.
Ms Ong, 31, who was working as a sales assistant at an office in Paya Lebar, told Soh that she was having bad luck and was not comfortable at her company.
She also said her office was haunted by ghosts, who were following her.
Not long after that, Ms Ong resigned and was out of a stable job for about five months. Soh, who worked at MediaCorp, needed money to fund her spending habits, which included playing online games.
She decided to cheat Ms Ong by telling her that two of the ghosts in the office had followed her home and given her bad luck.
Between November 2009 and April 2010, she tricked her friend into giving her various sums of money to pay for the "medium".
The court heard that Ms Ong cashed in her insurance policies, giving the proceeds of $2,500 to Soh.
In February 2010, she handed over $7,600. The following month, Soh asked for more money so that her "auntie" could perform further rituals because the "ghost" was still hovering around.
When the victim said she had no more funds, Soh suggested she go to a licensed moneylender.
Ms Ong borrowed $1,770, which she passed on to her friend. In April 2010, Soh tried to cheat the victim of another $2,427 by using the money to pay her father's SingTel bills.
The court also heard that between March and May 2010, Ms Ong received phone calls every night from a person who made ghostly noises.
Soh pleaded guilty to four charges of cheating and one of attempted cheating. She has paid back $14,232 to the victim.
District Judge Lee Poh Choo said there were many aggravating factors which called for a jail sentence.
"I would have viewed it differently... taking a more lenient stand if the money was for necessities or for urgent needs," she said.
"The way the money was spent was absolutely unwarranted."
[email protected]
