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SINGAPORE: A woman spun a web of elaborate lies to cheat a man of S$57,250 over 24 occasions, making claims such as needing to pay for a Housing Board transaction and that her daughter had died, followed by her son.
She eventually tried to con the man by faking her own death, pretending to be a lawyer and sending him bogus invoices for “outstanding legal fees”.
Priscilla Shamani Manoharan also cheated 11 other people of more than $49,000 in total in rental scams.
On Thursday (June 20), the 33-year-old Singaporean pleaded guilty to six charges, including multiple counts of cheating. Fourteen other charges will be considered during sentencing in July.
Priscilla’s cheating offences started in 2022.
In April that year, the unemployed woman, who was a mother of two at the time of the offences, posted advertisements on online platforms such as Facebook and Telegram, claiming to have an HDB flat for rent for between $1,500 and $1,800 a month.
However, she had no intention of renting out her flat.
The court heard that she was living there with her parents, children and domestic helper.
Multiple people contacted her and expressed their interest in renting the flat.
She then told them that they had to pay a deposit to secure its rental.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Natalie Chu told the court that Priscilla showed videos of the unit to the potential tenants and invited them to view it in person.
She also prepared “tenancy agreements” for them to sign.
Over 22 occasions between April 17 and May 27, 2022, she cheated nine people of $37,283 in total.
She used the monies for personal purposes, including gambling, and stopped responding to the victims’ attempts to contact her.
Some of the victims went to the flat and were told by Priscilla’s father that they had been scammed.
All nine victims made police reports, and her father made a partial restitution of $1,000 each to two of the victims.
Priscilla also transferred $150 to a third victim but made no restitution to the others.
She was arrested on June 1, 2022. The authorities seized her mobile phone and found that she had taken part in unlawful gambling activities.
She was charged in court two days later and released on bail on June 8, 2022.
The following year, Priscilla targeted a 23-year-old student whom she had earlier met in an online group formed during the Covid-19 pandemic, aimed at helping people in the eastern part of Singapore.
On July 24, 2023, she told him that her eldest daughter had died, and she needed money to pay for the funeral services.
Believing her lies, the student handed her $600 that day.
She cheated him 23 more times after this, duping him into handing over $57,250 in total.
She also created bogus documents and electronic records to back up her claims.
Among other things, Priscilla told him that she wanted to sell her HDB flat, and in August 2023 she created fake screenshots of e-mails purportedly sent by HDB.
She then claimed that she had to make payments to complete the process.
On another occasion in September 2023, Priscilla met the student at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH), and lied that her son had died.
She created fake WhatsApp chat records, purportedly between her and a KKH staff member, to convince the victim that she needed money urgently for medical fees.
The bogus records also stated that the hospital would “proceed to lodge a report for child negligence and abuse” as she was supposedly unable to pay for the treatment.
Between September and October 2023, Priscilla also pretended to be a lawyer called “Archana Nair” from the Legal Aid Bureau and contacted the student about some purported medical bills.
Soon after, the “lawyer” claimed that Priscilla had died and showed the student fake invoices for her “outstanding legal fees”.
The victim contacted the Legal Aid Bureau and was told that there was no such lawyer. He alerted the police on Oct 11, 2023.
Separately, Priscilla cheated two other men, aged 35 and 45, of a total of $11,800 in another rental scam in early 2024.
She has not made restitution to them or to the student. - The Straits Times/ANN
