Man charged with cheating victim over 5 boxes of durian
Thailand prepares to export hundreds of thousands of tonnes of durians to China in 2022. (Photo: iStock/Yamtono Sardi)
SINGAPORE: A man was charged on Thursday (Mar 3) with cheating another man into paying him for five boxes of durian that were never delivered.
Ho Teck Lai, 31, was remanded for investigations. He is believed to be involved in other similar cases, where victims bought durians online but did not receive the fruit.
Ho was given one count of cheating. According to the charge sheet, he dishonestly induced a man into transferring him S$87 via PayNow for five boxes of durian on Feb 14 this year.
However, Ho did not have any durians for sale.
Related:
Ho was under remission at the time of the alleged offence - he was subject to a remission order from Aug 2, 2021 to Jun 20, 2022. He is therefore liable to an enhanced jail term if convicted.
The police said in an earlier statement that they received several reports in February and March this year from victims who were purportedly cheated by an online durian seller.
The suspect failed to deliver the durians to them after they made payment.
Officers identified the suspect and arrested him on Wednesday.
The police advised the public to take precautions when buying items online, including buying only from authorised or reputable sources. If the price is too good to be true, it probably is, said the police.
The penalties for cheating are a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine.
Ho will return to court next week.
