Woman facing 74 counts of cheating back in court
by Ng Jing Yng
05:55 AM May 05, 2010
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Self-styled property investor Calisa Cheong Mei Ing was back in court yesterday following the rejection of her mitigation plea last year.
In remand since July last year, Cheong faces 74 counts of cheating tenants of rent money and obtaining credit as an undischarged bankrupt.
When she appeared in the Subordinate Courts last October, the 40-year-old single mother of four told the court she had wanted to plead guilty so as to fast track her sentence and resume work to support her four children.
She, however, decided to fight her case after her mitigation plea was rejected when she insisted on her innocence.
Yesterday, one of the victims, Mr Liu Guo, a Chinese national, told the court that Cheong had told him she was the owner of a flat at Geylang Bahru.
He gave her a total of $7,000 but subsequently found out that the flat belonged to an Indian family.
Refuting Mr Liu's testimony, Cheong said that she had wanted to strike a rental deal with the flat owners but Mr Liu jumped the gun and alarmed the owners.
The trial continues today.
