Jail for man who cheated friend of over S$17,000, entered MBS casino using false identities and harassing another motorist

SINGAPORE — Preying on his friend's desire to earn money from foreign currency trading, Ng Guan Hao, 34, told the friend to hand him more than S$17,000 as he knew of someone who managed to double their investment.

But this was all a ruse, as the funds were never used for trading purposes. Ng later claimed to have gambled away the money.

In court on Thursday (April 4), Ng was sentenced to 11 months and four weeks’ jail after pleading guilty to four charges, three of which related to gambling.

This includes the one cheating charge and two charges under the Casino Control Act for using others' identification cards to gamble at the Marina Bay Sands casino on 28 occasions while he was banned from entering the premises.

Ng also pleaded guilty to a charge under the Protection from Harassment Act for using threatening behaviour, after he chased a car on the Pan Island Expressway (PIE) and hurled vulgarities on the driver. 

Seven other charges, including for violating Covid-19 regulations and failing to report for his bail, were taken into consideration during sentencing. 

CHEATING FRIEND OF S$17,000

On March 7, 2021, Ng lied to his friend that he knew an acquaintance — named in court documents as Mr Lee Wen Hao — who traded in foreign currency and had managed to obtain a 100 per cent return in profit. 

As part of his ruse, Ng then told his friend to transfer money to Mr Lee’s bank account, misrepresenting to him that the money would be used by Mr Lee to trade in foreign currencies on his behalf, and that any profits would be his.

His friend was induced by Ng’s deception to transfer a total of S$17,420 to Mr Lee’s DBS account, comprising of S$6,700 on March 7 and S$10,720 on March 20.

Court documents stated that Ng then told Mr Lee that someone would be transferring money to the account but did not elaborate further on the purpose of such funds.

Later, Ng told Mr Lee to transfer the money to Ng's personal PayNow account and directed him to not reply to any questions if asked.

The court heard that Mr Lee transferred S$5,000 to Ng after receiving the victim’s first transfer. Ng allowed Mr Lee to keep S$1,000 as a form of loan repayment. The remaining S$700 could not be transferred on the same day due to a transfer limit.

Before the victim made the second transfer on March 20, Ng told Mr Lee that someone would transfer “photocopier money” to him, and again requested him to transfer the money received to his PayNow account. 

As Mr Lee believed that Ng was working for a photocopier company, he did not question further and sent the entire S$10,720. 

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Claire Poh told the court that Ng claimed to have gambled away all the money received from the victim through Mr Lee, and has made no restitution to date. 

ENTERING CASINO WITH OTHERS' IDENTITY 

On May 2, 2021, a customer relations executive at the Marina Bay Sands Casino spotted Ng sitting at one of the gambling tables.

The executive recognised Ng to be his secondary school acquaintance, but realised there was no such name on the list of patrons sitting at the table. 

He then searched for Ng’s name in casino's database and confirmed that Ng had been issued multiple exclusion orders from the casino, which prohibited him from entering the casino between March 2018 and March 2023. 

The court heard that Ng had approached one Melvin Tan Yong Ann for his identity card, who agreed to being paid S$200 each time Ng entered the casino with the false identity. 

Ng did so 22 times between March 17 and May 2 that year, court documents stated.

The gambler also used the identity card of another friend Yeo De Rong to enter the MBS casino on Feb 9, 2022 and five other occasions in that month. 

After confirming that Ng’s exclusion order was still in force and hearing Ng's admission that he had used his friend’s identity card to enter the casino under false pretenses, the staff member called the police. 

Ng later confessed that he had arranged to give 50 per cent of his winnings to his friend if he won and would bear any losses by himself. Ng also paid him S$700 for the use of his identity card. 

Court documents also said that in 2021, Ng had chased and tailgated another car while he was driving on the PIE towards Changi, later throwing a bottle at the other car from his vehicle after exiting onto Tampines Avenue 12.

He also forced the victim to stop by blocking him with his car on Tampines Avenue 9. Ng then exited his car and dared the other driver to do the same, holding a small pair of scissors while challenging him to a fight, said DPP Poh. 

He also lobbed vulgarities in Hokkien and pointed his middle finger at the other driver, whose girlfriend called for the police.

Anyone who commits cheating and induces a person to deliver property can be jailed for up to 10 years or fined. 

For entering the casino premises while being an excluded person, Ng could have been jailed for up to two years and fined up to S$20,000. 

For impersonating another person to enter the casino, Ng could have been jailed for up to six years and be fined up to S$20,000. 

Those who intentionally cause harassment can be jailed for up to six months or be fined up to S$5,000.