Married couple cheated wife's boyfriend of $220k; husband thought victim was her ‘friend'
Married couple cheated wife's boyfriend of $220k; husband thought victim was her 'friend'
SINGAPORE – A married couple cheated the wife's 'friend' of $220,000 by luring him into a fake property investment scheme – without the husband knowing that she was having an affair with the victim.
Felicia Tay Bee Ling and Eric Ong Chee Wei worked together to spin a tale of discounted property deals to dupe Mr David Tan, who had never met Ong but knew that he was Tay's spouse at the time.
On June 24 , Tay, 49, and Ong, 50, pleaded guilty to a cheating charge each. Ong has since made a restitution of $10,000 to Mr Tan, 48.
Court documents did not disclose if Tay and Ong are still married to each other.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Kiera Yu told the court that Tay was a housewife while Ong worked as a property agent from 1999 to 2006 before turning to odd jobs.
Tay met Mr Tan in 2010, and they had an affair from 2014 to 2017.
Around September 2015, Ong conspired with Tay to deceive Mr Tan.
They agreed that Tay would tell him that there were opportunities for him to invest in condominium units, which he could sell later for significant profits.
Their intention was to dupe Mr Tan into paying supposed 'security deposits' for the units , said the prosecutor.
In reality, the two offenders knew that there were no such units for sale.
Acting on Ong's instructions, Tay told Mr Tan that she had 'investment opportunities' involving the purchase of condominium units at Residences @ Emerald Hill.
Tay claimed that due to the 'poor property market', developers were willing to offload unsold properties at discounted rates to agents.
She also claimed that Ong was one such agent as he used to work in the property industry.
Eric Ong Chee Wei pleaded guilty to a cheating charge on June 24.
PHOTO: SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS
Tay told Mr Tan that she could help him purchase seven units directly from the developer of the condominium at a discounted rate.
She also claimed that the units could be resold at higher prices and promised Mr Tan that each investment would purportedly yield high returns within three months.
In reality, six of the units that he was supposedly buying did not exist at all.
DPP Yu said that for the remaining unit, Ong and Tay knew that they had no basis to offer it as an 'investment' to Mr Tan as it was not available for sale.
She added: 'Felicia also told David not to tell any 'outsiders' about these investment opportunities, as they were 'exclusive offers'.'
Tay also sent handwritten records of the 'investments' to him, said the prosecutor. ' However, no official documents on the sale and purchase of the units were ever provided.'
Ong gave Tay hard copies of option-to-purchase (OTP) forms purportedly issued through a salesperson under real estate company Orange Tee .
Ong got to know the salesperson when he was still working as a property agent.
Court documents stated that the salesperson was unaware that Ong had used these OTP forms issued in the salesperson's name to commit cheating.
Tay filled up an OTP form for each of the seven units and sent screenshots of these fake documents to Mr Tan over WhatsApp.
He then handed to Tay $220,000 in total as 'security deposits' over seven occasions from September to November 2015.
Tay also promised Mr Tan that he would purportedly receive profits of more than $1.7 million when the units were sold.
DPP Yu said: ' He had immense trust for Felicia because they were in a relationship, and he was under the impression that (Ong) worked in the property industry.'
But around January 2016, Mr Tan sensed that something was amiss when he received no investment retur ns.
He confronted Tay about the matter, but she did not give him any concrete answers.
To appease him, she prepared an 'IOU document' with information from Ong, who also signed it.
This document dated Jan 8, 2016 was created to convince Mr Tan that Ong would supposedly pay the money owed to him, providing the victim with a false sense of security.
In March 2017, Mr Tan and Tay broke up.
The victim finally reached out to OrangeTee on Dec 11, 2019 and the company told him that none of the transactions listed on the OTP forms were legitimate.
Mr Tan made a police report the next day and officers arrested the two offenders in June 2022
Ong and Tay will be sentenced in July.
Shaffiq Alkhatib is The Straits Times' court correspondent, covering mainly criminal cases heard at the State Courts.
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Iswaran in making payment of $5,700 for a business flight ticket for a Dec 11, 2022, flight from Doha to Singapore. This was done after the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau had seized a flight manifest for Ong's private jet. Judge Lee said this was undoubtedly serious. Ong's other charge, which was taken into consideration for sentencing, was for abetting Mr Iswaran, who was then a public servant, in obtaining gifts. These included a flight on Ong's private plane from Singapore to Doha worth about $10,400, a one-night stay in Four Seasons Hotel Doha worth about $4,700, and the $5,700 business class flight from Doha to Singapore. This offence also warranted condemnation, said Judge Lee, and ran the risk of damaging the trust and integrity of public institutions. The prosecution and defence had agreed that were it not for Ong's ill health, he should have been jailed. The judge noted that in Mr Iswaran's case, the High Court had found the appropriate starting sentence for the related obstruction of justice charge to be 18 weeks. But because Mr Iswaran had been the one to ask for the bill, Ong's culpability was lower. Judge Lee found the appropriate starting sentence would have been 15 weeks' jail. The prosecution previously submitted that, were it not for his ill health, 12 weeks' jail would have been appropriate if Ong had claimed trial, with a reduction to eight weeks' jail for an early plea of guilt. Character and contributions Judge Lee had also considered Ong's character and contributions to Singapore that were raised by the defence. The founder of Singapore-based organisation Hotel Properties Limited is known to have brought in Formula One (F1) to Singapore in 2008. The judge said his character and contributions, however significant, were at best a neutral factor in sentencing. She said they provided no basis for any reduction in sentence. Overseas trips Judge Lee said she also considered the two overseas trips Ong had taken in October-November 2024 and April-May 2025. She said both journeys were carefully managed to minimise health risks through private aviation, which significantly reduced exposure to infections compared with commercial travel. The second journey, which was to consult a professor in the United States, involved several stops along the way. Judge Lee said this demonstrated Ong's medical fragility and his inability to endure a direct flight, underscoring the gravity of his condition. She said: 'One may consider it unfair that an offender who can afford a higher standard of healthcare is better positioned to avoid imprisonment than a less privileged offender. 'This view is misguided and misconstrues the court's focus. The critical question is not whether an offender may receive a lower standard of healthcare in prison, but whether imprisonment would create heightened risks to the offender's life.' Judicial mercy The crux of her judgment was on how Ong's medical condition would affect the appropriate sentence, and whether judicial mercy should be exercised in this case. She noted it would be insufficient for an offender to merely show he was ill, and two things needed to be determined. The first was whether imprisonment would carry a high risk of endangering his life. The second was whether that risk would be significantly enhanced in prison. She concluded that the medical evidence showed that imprisonment would carry a high risk of endangering Ong's life, given his serious medical conditions. In particular, she noted his incurable cancer, vulnerability to infections and susceptibility to falls. She said: 'The risk of infections would increase significantly due to unavoidable interactions with rotating shifts of prison officers and medical staff, thereby expanding his exposure to potential pathogens. 'The risk of falls would likewise be significantly heightened, as the accused would face disorientation in an unfamiliar environment and different routines, without the assistance of his usual caregivers, who understand his specific needs.' Judge Lee said that while the Singapore Prison Service had an adequate healthcare system to manage inmates, this did not address the enhanced risks of potentially fatal infections and falls. In the event of an incident, his survival cannot be guaranteed, she noted. She said: 'I am satisfied that the circumstances in this case are exceptional and meet the high threshold for the grant of judicial mercy.' Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction. Print
