Updated: 02/27/2014 19:25 | By Channel NewsAsia
Man jailed for threatening to post nude photos of women online
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SINGAPORE: An Indian national conned women into sending him nude photos of themselves, then threatened to upload them if they did not have sex with him.
For criminally intimidating 17 women between May and August last year, Mani Velmurugan was put behind bars for two years and eight months.
The 28-year-old construction worker's modus operandi was to get acquainted with women through online chat website "Badoo".
Using a Caucasian man's photo as his profile picture, Mani would claim that he was from England or Canada.
Mani would then exchange phone numbers with the women and communicate with them via WhatsApp.
He would try to exchange nude photos with them by first sending them a photo of a Caucasian man.
Some fell for the ploy, and there were those who would send him photos of their work permits or their NRICs when he claimed that he needed them to grant the women access to his condominium.
Mani would then threaten to upload the information online.
In mitigation, the defence said that Mani is a father of three young children and is the sole breadwinner.
His wife is in India and he has a debt of $30,000.
The defence also stressed that Mani never carried out the threats.
In sentencing, District Judge Eddy Tham said a harsh sentence has to be imposed so as to deter like-minded individuals.
He noted that Mani continued to threaten one of the victims after having sex with her.
The maximum punishment is a jail term of 10 years and a fine on each count. - CNA/de
