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Malay Mail
4 days ago
- Malay Mail
Four charged in Singapore after ‘spiritual' scam leaves victim with bag of leaves
SINGAPORE, June 7 — Four Chinese nationals have been charged in court in Singapore for allegedly orchestrating a scam that saw victims deceived into handing over cash and jewellery for so-called religious blessing rituals. According to Channel News Asia (CNA), Huang Ximing, 61, Zhong Weifeng, 58, Huang Qinyan, 47, and Huang Meiling, 56, each face two counts of cheating in furtherance of a conspiracy, the Singapore Police Force said in a statement yesterday. The alleged scam came to light after a victim lodged a police report on June 3, claiming she had been approached by three women in Chinatown. According to charge sheets, the incident began when Huang Meiling asked the victim for directions to a Chinese physician. Zhong Weifeng then stepped in, claiming to know one. Zhong reportedly told the victim that the physician could only consult outside her premises due to overcrowding and asked the victim to pose as a relative. The two then led her to Huang Qinyan, who allegedly posed as the physician and told the victim she was 'experiencing misfortune due to negative spiritual elements'. The three women arranged to meet the victim at Hong Lim Park, where she was persuaded to hand over S$700 (RM2,300) in cash and a gold necklace with a 'Guan Yin' pendant. Huang Qinyan is said to have placed the items in a black plastic bag and performed a blessing ritual, before instructing the victim to store the bag unopened under her bed for a month. When the victim opened the bag the next day, she found only leaves inside. A day later, police received another report of a similar scam in the Clementi area. In this case, two women allegedly approached a second victim, noticed cash in her bag, and convinced her to place her money — totalling S$700 — into a black trash bag for 'safekeeping'. The cash later went missing. The four accused were arrested on June 5 following extensive ground enquiries and CCTV analysis. The gold necklace was recovered, and police also seized S$1,311 and 10,050 Chinese yuan in cash. Charges state that on June 3 at around 3pm, near Commonwealth Avenue West, the group acted in concert to deceive another victim into believing they had special techniques to protect her valuables. She was allegedly tricked into handing over an envelope of cash to Huang Meiling and Huang Qinyan. Huang Ximing, Zhong, and Huang Qinyan appeared via video link in court, where the prosecution sought a one-week remand with permission to take them out for investigations, citing the need to trace potential accomplices, identify more victims, and conduct scene visits. The court granted the application. Huang Meiling was charged separately. All four are due to return to court on June 13.
The Star
4 days ago
- The Star
Four charged over suspected involvement in ‘blessing' scams
A gold necklace, S$1,311 in cash and 10,050 yuan (S$1,800) were seized. - SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE SINGAPORE: Three women and a man have been charged in court over allegedly cheating victims of cash and gold in 'blessing' scams. Chinese nationals Zhong Weifeng, 58, Huang Ximing, 61, Huang Meiling, 56, and Huang Qinyan, 47, were charged with conspiracy to cheat on Friday (June 6). On June 2, Zhong and Huang Meiling approached one of the victims and led her to Huang Qinyan, who claimed to be a Chinese physician. The victim was told she was experiencing misfortune due to 'negative spiritual elements', the police said on June 6. To ward off misfortune, the woman was said to have handed $700 in cash and a gold necklace to Huang Qinyan, who placed the items in a plastic bag. Huang Qinyan performed a 'cleansing ritual' on the valuables, and the victim was told to keep the plastic bag, untouched, under her bed for a month. The woman checked the bag the next day and found that her valuables had been replaced with leaves. On June 4, the police received a report of another scam with a similar modus operandi. According to the police, the second victim was approached by two of the accused and convinced to place an envelope with cash into a black rubbish bag for safekeeping. She later discovered that her money had gone missing. Police investigations found that Huang Ximing was working together with the three women to cheat the victims. All four were arrested on June 5. A gold necklace, $1,311 in cash and 10,050 yuan (S$1,800) were seized. If convicted of conspiracy to cheat, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined. - The Straits Times/ANN
Straits Times
4 days ago
- Straits Times
4 charged over suspected involvement in ‘blessing' scams
SINGAPORE – Three men and a woman have been charged in court over allegedly scamming victims of cash and gold in a series of 'blessing' scams. Chinese nationals Zhong Weifeng, 58, Huang Ximing, 61, Huang Meiling, 56, and Huang Qinyan, 47, were charged with conspiracy to cheat on June 6. On June 2, Zhong and Huang Meiling approached one of the victims and led her to Huang Qinyan, who claimed to be a Chinese physician. The victim was told she was experiencing misfortune due to 'negative spiritual elements', the police said on June 6. To ward off misfortune, the woman was said to have handed $700 in cash and a gold necklace to Huang Qinyan, who placed the items in a plastic bag. Huang Qinyan performed a 'cleansing ritual' on the valuables, and the victim was told to keep the plastic bag, untouched, under her bed for a month. The woman checked the bag the next day and found that her valuables had been replaced with leaves. On June 4, the police received a report of another scam with a similar modus operandi. A ccording to the police , the second victim was approached by two of the accused and convinced to place an envelope with cash into a black rubbish bag for safekeeping; she later discovered that her money had gone missing. Police investigations found that Huang Ximing was working together with the three women to cheat the victims. All four were arrested on June 5. A gold necklace, $1,311 in cash and RMB10,050 (S$1,800) were seized. If convicted of conspiracy to cheat, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined. Claudia Tan is a journalist at The Straits Times covering the crime and court beat. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
CNA
4 days ago
- CNA
Four accused of duping woman out of her belongings in 'blessings' scam
SINGAPORE: Three women and a man were charged on Friday (Jun 6) for their purported roles in a scam that involved at least one victim surrendering her belongings for religious blessings. The man is Huang Ximing, 61, and the women are Zhong Weifeng, 58, Huang Qinyan, 47, and Huang Meiling, 56. All four are Chinese nationals. Each was handed two charges of cheating in a conspiracy. In a press release on Friday, the police said that they received a report on Jun 3 from a victim who was allegedly cheated by three women in Chinatown. Charge sheets provided more details on how this occurred. Huang Meiling had initially approached the alleged victim seeking directions to a Chinese physician, when Zhong intervened and claimed that she knew of one. Zhong added that consultations could only occur outside the premises due to overcrowding and wanted the victim to pose as her relative. She then led them to Huang Qinyan, who claimed to be the physician, the police said. The victim was then told that she was "experiencing misfortune due to negative spiritual elements". The police added that the three women and the victim then arranged to meet at Hong Lim Park, where they convinced the victim to surrender S$700 (US$544) in cash and a gold necklace with a "Guan Yin" pendant to the "Chinese physician". Huang Qinyan, who was posing as the physician, then placed the items in a black plastic bag and performed an alleged blessing ritual, said the police. The victim was instructed to store the plastic bag underneath her bed, unopened, for one month. The next morning, when the victim examined the contents of the plastic bag, she discovered that her valuables had been replaced with leaves. The police said they received another report of a similar scam in the Clementi area on Jun 4. In this incident, two women approached another victim and engaged her in conversation. After noticing cash in the victim's bag, they convinced her to place her valuables into a black trash bag for "safekeeping", said the police. The victim later discovered that her money was missing. Charges state that on Jun 3, 2025, at about 3pm, in the vicinity of Commonwealth Avenue West, the four engaged in a conspiracy to cheat the victim by deceiving her into believing that they had better equipment and techniques to safeguard her valuables. The victim was allegedly deceived into delivering an envelope containing S$500 in cash to Huang Meiling and Huang Qinyan for custody. Huang Ximing, Zhong and Huang Qinyan appeared in court via videolink, where a prosecutor applied to have them remanded for a week with permission to take them out for investigations. This was to ascertain if there were other cases of a similar nature, if the accused had other accomplices, and to conduct scene visits to recover evidence. Huang Meiling was charged separately. The court granted the application and fixed a further mention for all four on Jun 13. Through extensive ground enquiries and the aid of CCTV footage, the police were able to establish the identities of the accused. All four were arrested on Jun 5. The victim's gold necklace was recovered from one of them, said the police. Cash amounting to S$1,311 and 10,050 Chinese yuan (US$1,400) were also seized. The police urged the public to be wary of strangers who claim to provide spiritual help or blessing services. "No legitimate religious practitioner will ask for your money or valuables to be surrendered for any blessing ritual," said the police. "If approached by someone claiming you have bad luck or need spiritual cleansing, do not engage with them and call the police immediately."
