SINGAPORE — He met a Singaporean woman on mobile dating application Tinder and introduced himself as “Daniel”, an experienced silver trader.

They began a romantic relationship and, bit by bit, he swindled her of more than S$68,000 by pretending to help her invest her money for high profits.

The woman, then 50, cannot named to protect her identity.

She realised she had been cheated only after reading a news report about victims cheated by the man, and decided to make a police report.

On Tuesday (Feb 26), Peter Aw Boo Cheong, 47, who is unemployed, was sentenced to five years’ jail by District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt.

The Malaysian pleaded guilty to 17 counts of cheating. Another 24 counts were taken into consideration during sentencing.

Between May 2016 and July 2017, Aw duped a total of six women that he met on Tinder and dating website Match.com.

He deceived them into parting with close to S$437,000 in total, using the similar tactic of misrepresenting himself as a trader even though he has never been one.

The court heard that he met the 50-year-old woman some time in 2016.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Tan Hsiao Tien said: “He led her to believe that he was a credible and trustworthy person who had valuable information about investment, and would help her to invest in silver for her best interests.”

Court documents showed that on seven occasions, Aw would ask her for money for a variety of reasons, usually to invest in silver or for other investment schemes.

On one occasion, Aw even told her that he needed S$20,000 to help a client to partially pay for a horse in Perth, Australia.

With the money he took from her, Aw spent it on personal expenses, including paying off his gambling debts.

He did the same with the money he conned out of the other five women, most of whom were Singaporean.

The court heard that to date, Aw has made restitution of S$500 to one victim.

DPP Tan urged the court to impose a 60-month (five-year) jail sentence, saying that Aw is a “recalcitrant serial cheat who is bent on cheating women for his personal benefits”.

“He exploited the victims’ interest in him as either a close friend or a romantic partner, as well as their misplaced trust in him as an experienced and credible trader,” she added.

Aw will begin serving his sentence on Tuesday (Feb 27).

For each count of cheating, he could have been jailed up to 10 years and fined.