A 70-year-old man was at the ruinous end of a 15-year-long scam masterminded by two Singaporean women, which saw him being swindled over $400,000 of his hard-earned money.
Tan Soy Kiang even worked two jobs in the belief that he owed money to the government, forking out $53,000 of his life savings and his monthly earnings to the two exceedingly vile conwomen, The New Paper reports.
The man had to work as a cleaner along Kim Keat Avenue and as a pump attendant at an Esso Station in Toa Payoh daily, earning $2000 every month. The women would keep track of his pay days, appearing at either places to collect the money.
His ordeal only came to light when his niece, 39-year-old Pamela Lim returned from Australia after living there for 15 years and discovered the whole unsavoury affair. She confronted him after finding out that he had to constantly borrow money from family and neighbours, even though he was working two jobs.
Lim then confronted the two deceitful women last year and made them promise to return all the money they've taken from Tan through monthly instalments, while also recording their confessions on video.
Despite their promises, they returned to their fraudulent ways last August and continued to extort money from him. Tan — who Lim describes as a simple-minded, easily misled man — had mistakenly told the police in an earlier report that he had been handing over the money willingly on his own accord. Lim then lodged a second report with the proper details, and the police have since arrested a 65-year-old woman on grounds of cheating, while another 69-year-old woman is also assisting with investigations.
However, there is a silver lining to his predicament. Following the report by The New Paper, an employee at an International School by the name of Dan Chen was moved by the story and launched a crowdfunding project on Indiegogo in a bid to raise funds for Tan.
As of writing, USD 22,237 has been raised for the man, significantly surpassing the initial goal of USD 5,000.
Chen plans to use the money raised to help Tan by getting him vouchers, food, cash and other necessities. He also plans to invite donors to join him in handing over the goods and cash to Tan after the fund raising period ends on March 9.
Meanwhile, the two women might face fines and imprisonment of up to 10 years if they are convicted of cheating.
Photo: Indiegogo
A 70-year-old man was at the ruinous end of a 15-year-long scam masterminded by two Singaporean women, which saw him being swindled over $400,000 of his hard-earned money.
Tan Soy Kiang even worked two jobs in the belief that he owed money to the government, forking out $53,000 of his life savings and his monthly earnings to the two exceedingly vile conwomen, The New Paper reports.
The man had to work as a cleaner along Kim Keat Avenue and as a pump attendant at an Esso Station in Toa Payoh daily, earning $2000 every month. The women would keep track of his pay days, appearing at either places to collect the money.
His ordeal only came to light when his niece, 39-year-old Pamela Lim returned from Australia after living there for 15 years and discovered the whole unsavoury affair. She confronted him after finding out that he had to constantly borrow money from family and neighbours, even though he was working two jobs.
Lim then confronted the two deceitful women last year and made them promise to return all the money they've taken from Tan through monthly instalments, while also recording their confessions on video.
Despite their promises, they returned to their fraudulent ways last August and continued to extort money from him. Tan — who Lim describes as a simple-minded, easily misled man — had mistakenly told the police in an earlier report that he had been handing over the money willingly on his own accord. Lim then lodged a second report with the proper details, and the police have since arrested a 65-year-old woman on grounds of cheating, while another 69-year-old woman is also assisting with investigations.
However, there is a silver lining to his predicament. Following the report by The New Paper, an employee at an International School by the name of Dan Chen was moved by the story and launched a crowdfunding project on Indiegogo in a bid to raise funds for Tan.
As of writing, USD 22,237 has been raised for the man, significantly surpassing the initial goal of USD 5,000.
Chen plans to use the money raised to help Tan by getting him vouchers, food, cash and other necessities. He also plans to invite donors to join him in handing over the goods and cash to Tan after the fund raising period ends on March 9.
Meanwhile, the two women might face fines and imprisonment of up to 10 years if they are convicted of cheating.
Photo: Indiegogo