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The New Paper
Saturday, Nov 03, 2012
SINGAPORE - He coolly walked into a goldsmith shop in Boon Lay at about 11am last Friday and claimed he wanted to buy a necklace for his dad.
What the shop owner did not know was that the man had a crafty plan to relieve him of the gold.
"He used his debit card to make payment, but the transaction was rejected," the goldsmith shop boss told Shin Min Daily News.
The man somehow managed to deceive the boss into making an "offline" transaction by pretending to call the bank and then providing an "approval code".
The owner took down the man's particulars before giving him the jewellery.
He "bought" two gold necklaces worth $20,000 in this way.
The man returned three more times on the same day and got away with nearly $300,000 worth of gold jewellery.
The man could have stopped there, but greed got the better of him and this led to his undoing.
On Tuesday, he phoned the same goldsmith shop owner, saying he wanted to buy a large number of gold chains.
Said the owner: "I agreed to come down (to the shop). In the afternoon, I saw the man at a nearby coffee shop, wearing the same white top and trousers. I called the police and they came and arrested him."
The boss added that his shop is helping with the investigation.
He said his gold chains were all marked with numbers and he believed he would be able to retrieve the pieces which were taken by the man.
Arrested
A police spokesman said a 30-year-old man was arrested at Boon Lay Place on Tuesday for cheating offences.
The spokesman added that the man is believed to be involved in cheating several merchants of over a million dollars worth of merchandise.
In the past two months, the suspect had carried out his cheating offences in areas such as Bukit Panjang, Boon Lay, Woodlands, Orchard Road and Tampines.
The man will be charged with cheating in court today, an offence which carries a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine.
Efforts are ongoing to recover the loot from the suspect.
