Three arrested for involvement in gold ingot bait-and-switch scam
Suspected scammers cheated victim of S$4,000 with fake ingots “found while excavating the ground”
THREE men, aged between 52 and 62, have been arrested for their suspected involvement in a case of conspiracy to commit cheating using fake gold ingots, said the Singapore Police Force (SPF) on Friday (Jun 21).
On Wednesday (Jun 19), the SPF received a report that a female victim had been cheated of S$4,000.
Investigations showed that two men approached the victim around 1 pm along Tras Street and claimed that they had found gold ingots through excavations at an unknown site in Singapore.
The men said they wished to send the gold back to China, but were unsure of the legal process involved. So they offered to hand the victim the gold for safe keeping in exchange for cash as collateral.
To give credence to their story, the scammers produced a document with old Chinese writings and a small, genuine gold ingot.
The victim then took them to a goldsmith along Eu Tong Sen Street, where the small gold ingot was verified as authentic. The scammers then took back the genuine gold ingot and handed the victim the fake ones in exchange for S$4,000.
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The victim then returned to the goldsmith, but upon realising that the ingots she had been given were fake and the men had left the scene, she called the police.
Through enquiries on the ground and surveillance camera footage, the police established the identity of the suspects and arrested them along Aliwal Street on Jun 20.
Further investigations turned up an accomplice; the SPF also seized 80 pieces of small gold-coloured ingots, a piece of paper with Chinese writings, and six, small gold-coloured Buddha statues.
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The three suspects will be charged in court on Jun 22 with conspiracy to commit cheating under Section 420 read with Section 109 of the Penal Code 1871, which is punishable with imprisonment of up to 10 years and fines.
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