S'porean man, 38, accused by dozens of taking over S$10 million for 'high return investments' over 4 years, at least 10 police reports made
The man admitted in an interview with Mothership that he told "one lie after another".Daniel Seow |
Events
It all started with a casual brag to his friends that he had a knack for investment and had methods to "grow money".
People started to believe in the charismatic 38-year-old property agent's stories of "as high as 40 per cent returns" — handing him millions of dollars over the years.
When the "returns" stopped, they found out he had no "business plan" and were merely fooled by the glib of his tongue.
E was eventually arrested for allegedly perpetrating a scam after multiple alleged victims made police reports.
Over 10 alleged victims, over S$10 million
Alleged victims of E reached out to Mothership with tales of broken promises.
Some met him through soccer sessions from as early as 2014, while others were introduced to him through friends and family.
One said he was promised 20 per cent returns and handed E a total of S$150,000 in cash over five years — but only received a total of S$10,000, with most of the principal sum missing.
Another man, Lim, was promised 7 to 9 per cent returns for his S$2 million "investment". He only managed to get back about S$500,000 before the scheme collapsed.
At least 10 people lodged police reports against E from June 2022 to April 2023, with alleged losses ranging from S$50,000 to S$3.2 million, for a total of around S$9 million.
Another alleged victim, who never lodged a police report, claimed he lost over $2 million.
According to some of the alleged victims, there could be a total of 30 more affected, with total losses purportedly amounting to S$15 million or more.
Claimed he had businesses in S'pore, investments in Thailand
The common theme between the alleged victims' accounts was that they found E a sweet talker, and all trusted their monies were in good hands.
He regularly updated them on his "businesses" and gave them returns on time, at least initially.
E told people he had "businesses" in Singapore, "investments" in Thailand and invested in a "large moneylender that provided corporate loans".
He also made some of his alleged victims his “business partners” to make the ploy more convincing.
One man, Loo, 30, said E registered a company with him and brought him to places like nail polish studios, bars, and coffee shops that were part of his “business plans”.
Drove sports cars & manipulated people with lies
E portrayed himself as a successful man, supposedly with a "reputation for making money".
He switched between two expensive sports cars when he met people and bragged that he gambled upwards of S$10,000 at a time on a soccer bet.
When people felt insecure and asked to withdraw funds, he would spend time patiently dissuading them from doing so and eventually convinced them with promises like he was "safer than a bank".
Some alleged victims said E also spread lies to convince them to invest more.
He would tell existing "investors" that he was offering "special investment opportunities" for them, but they had to put in more money.
Alleged scammer's interview
Mothership reached out to E, who readily accepted an interview.
He said he knew he had "committed a crime", and for that, he has been cooperating with police investigations.
E claimed that he and his family were harassed and given death threats and hoped people would leave them alone.
"I will not run," he said.
Denied that he was a scammer
When asked if he was arrested for perpetrating a Ponzi scheme, he said it was merely "a cycle of taking money to pay the interest".
According to the Singapore Legal Advice website:
E claimed the sums he owed were below S$10 million.
He also claimed that some "investors" invested through "intermediaries", so he didn't know the "full list".
Said he regretted starting the 'investment scheme'
E declined to explain why he started the "investment scheme" and only said he regretted doing so.
He said when he started it, he was no longer active as a property agent and did not have regular income.
E denied that he was involved in gambling, sports betting, or investing in cryptocurrency.
'Ran out of time'
E claimed he "genuinely" tried to "generate funds" for the "investors", but by then, he was "running out of time".
When the scheme crashed in 2020, E said he tried to return the interest owed to investors but could not repay the principal sums many had put in.
He claimed he has liquidated his assets, including his family's and his parent's houses, and taken bank loans to pay off his debts.
He also turned himself in to the police in 2022.
Alleged victims want to move on
Many of E's alleged victims still owe their friends and family money after having borrowed funds from them.
Loo, E’s “business partner”, reported that he owes his family and friends S$3.2 million in total.
Loo shared that he had multiple breakdowns over the past two years while trying to hide the extent of his financial trouble from his family.
Another alleged victim, Sum, who was E’s ex-colleague, lost S$1.7 million.
Desperate to get his money back, Sum continued to lend E smaller amounts on his request even after the scheme collapsed.
At one point, Sum’s elderly father had to step in, seeing that he was obsessed with recovering the money.
Sum said,
From the police reports, some alleged victims said they had already given up hope of getting their money back but still hoped the case would come to a conclusion so they could move on with their lives.
According to E, he was arrested and is now out on bail.
