SINGAPORE — Accompanied by two other men, Tan Shi Feng impersonated a police officer and conducted a fake raid to cheat a sex worker of S$15,000 in cash and an iPhone 6.

Separately, the 30-year-old man also cheated his ex-colleague, Soh Chey Hean, 31, of a total of S$136,000.

On Tuesday (Oct 1), he pleaded guilty to six cheating charges and was sentenced to 30 months’ jail.

Tan used the money from Soh to gamble in the casino at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) as well as to repay his gambling debts.

Court documents reveal that he had been gambling since 2011. To sustain his habit, Tan borrowed money from various moneylenders and later fell into heavy debt.

IMPERSONATING POLICE OFFICERS

The court heard that Tan and his two accomplices — Liu Aik Kang, 25, and Hu Zhihao, 26 — had concocted a plan to cheat a sex worker by impersonating police officers.

Tan came across advertisements by Liang Shiyue offering illegal massage and sexual services. He had targeted the victim, then 30, as he believed that being involved in illegal activities herself, she would be less likely to report the crime to the police.

So he contacted Liang, pretending to be an interested client.

On June 23 last year, Tan, Liu and Hu arrived at Liang’s unit. The trio carried with them a note pad, a ziplock bag, gloves and a video camera to appear like genuine police officers.

Tan entered the unit first, before giving Hu and Liu a signal to enter and declare themselves as policemen.

Tan, being a navy regular, also handed Liu a navy camp pass to imitate a police pass.

The trio told Liang they believed that her unit had been used for illegal activities and that they were there to conduct a raid. Liang allowed them to search her unit.

The trio took S$15,000 in cash as well an iPhone 6 from Liang, and then left.

Court documents showed that a police report was made later in the morning of June 24, although it was not stated whether it was Liang who made the report.

All three men were arrested later that day.

CHEATED AN EX-COLLEAGUE

Tan also cheated his ex-colleague, Mr Soh, on 11 separate occasions, involving a total sum of S$136,000.

In one instance, Tan sent phone text messages to Mr Soh claiming that the latter’s wife had been kidnapped and required a ransom of S$30,000.

Tan said that he had already raised S$16,000 for the “ransom” and needed an extra S$14,000 from Mr Soh.

In another instance, Tan aided his brother Jaguar to cheat S$35,000 from Mr Soh. Jaguar told Mr Soh that he needed money to pay for his son’s medical bills as he was unable to obtain financial assistance.

Tan helped Jaguar by corroborating his lies and helped to pressure Mr Soh into transferring the sum to Jaguar.

Later, S$17,290 of the sum was given to Tan.

MASTERMIND OF THE PLOT

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Lee Wei Liang argued that Tan was the mastermind behind the plot to cheat Liang and should therefore receive a higher sentence compared to Liu, who was sentenced to 10 months’ jail for his part in the plot. Hu’s case is still before the courts.

DPP Lee also argued that by impersonating police officers, the group had tarnished the reputation of the Singapore Police Force and so a harsher sentence is required to deter others from committing a similar crime.

In mitigation, Tan’s lawyer, Mr TM Sinnadurai from Regent Law LLC, said that there should be parity in the sentences meted out to all three parties as the money had been equally divided between them.

Mr Sinnadurai also argued that unlike his two accomplices, S$3,050 had been recovered from Tan and returned to Liang.

However, DPP Lee pointed out that Tan had not returned the money to the victim of his own accord — the sum was recovered by the authorities.