T
Tadakatsu Honda
Guest
Singapore
Apr 12, 2010
Con-woman jailed for cheating
<!-- by line --> By Khushwant Singh
<!-- end by line -->
SHE had a flair for languages but used it to cheat. A district court heard that Chitra Murugasu, 35, introduced herself as Lisa from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority to Chinese national Yuan Jin Ping, 28, in October last year. Speaking in Mandarin, the jobless woman offered to get him permanent resident status by arranging a childless Singaporean couple to adopt him as their godson. Mr Yuan gave her $4,000 to make the arrangements. When a month passed without any news, he reported to the police. The technician managed to contact her a few days later but she asked for another $2,500 to clinch the deal. He refused.
When arrested, police discovered that Chitra was on the run since 2008, after she was found with half a gram of morphine and someone else's identity card on her. To make matters worse, she told policewoman Panjawarnam Tanorai in Tamil that she was willing to give her $10,000 to be let off the hook. Bailed out by her family, Chitra promptly went into hiding. She was jailed two years and four months on Monday for the cheating and drug offences. Her lawyer S.K. Kumar told The Straits Times that Chitra also spoke English, Malay, Hokkien, Cantonese and Teochew.
Apr 12, 2010
Con-woman jailed for cheating
<!-- by line --> By Khushwant Singh
<!-- end by line -->
SHE had a flair for languages but used it to cheat. A district court heard that Chitra Murugasu, 35, introduced herself as Lisa from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority to Chinese national Yuan Jin Ping, 28, in October last year. Speaking in Mandarin, the jobless woman offered to get him permanent resident status by arranging a childless Singaporean couple to adopt him as their godson. Mr Yuan gave her $4,000 to make the arrangements. When a month passed without any news, he reported to the police. The technician managed to contact her a few days later but she asked for another $2,500 to clinch the deal. He refused.
When arrested, police discovered that Chitra was on the run since 2008, after she was found with half a gram of morphine and someone else's identity card on her. To make matters worse, she told policewoman Panjawarnam Tanorai in Tamil that she was willing to give her $10,000 to be let off the hook. Bailed out by her family, Chitra promptly went into hiding. She was jailed two years and four months on Monday for the cheating and drug offences. Her lawyer S.K. Kumar told The Straits Times that Chitra also spoke English, Malay, Hokkien, Cantonese and Teochew.
