Man jailed 4 years for forging ex-wife's cheques, stealing her branded handbags
Reuters file photo
SINGAPORE – When his ex-wife left for a three-week trip to China in 2013, Kelvin Ang Soon Lim took the opportunity to forge two cheques in her name worth S$640,000 - one to pay off debts, and another to spend with his Chinese girlfriend.
Ms Li Xiangli, however, was willing to let the matter rest, as he had repaid part of the money, and they had a young child.
Three years later, Ang struck again, this time pilfering three of her handbags and her credit card. This time, Ms Li, 34, called the cops on her ex-husband.
On Friday (June 16), Ang, 40, was jailed for four years after he admitted to one count of theft and two counts of forgery. Another three counts of theft were taken into consideration.
The court heard that Ms Li left Singapore for China on Dec 9, 2013, for about three weeks. When she returned, she noticed that a sum of money had been transferred from her bank account.
Checks revealed that Ang had presented two cheques - with her signature - to the bank, and that he had deposited S$640,000 into his personal bank account.
Ang and Ms Li were already divorced at that time but had continued to stay in the same flat. They slept in separate rooms.
The court heard that Ms Li kept her cheque book in a drawer in her room, both of which were locked while she was away in China.
But Ang had duplicates of her room and drawer keys. He forged her signature, having previously seen Ms Li’s signature on bills that were placed around the house.
After Ms Li confronted him, Ang confessed that he had used S$380,000 to repay loanshark debts he incurred from heavy gambling losses. He had intended to spend the remaining S$260,000 on his then girlfriend, a Chinese national.
Ang and his mother repaid S$472,000 to Ms Li, who was willing to let the matter rest given that they had a young child at that time.
But Ang stole from her again in May 2016, pilfering three of her expensive handbags, including an Hermes handbag said to be worth S$20,000.
When Ms Li confronted her ex-husband, he admitted that he had sold it for S$14,900. The two other branded handbags he stole from Ms Li were worth S$5,840 in total.
Ang also stole her credit card in September last year, court documents showed.
The theft of her handbags and credit card prompted Ms Li to lodge two police reports against Ang - one for theft, and another for the earlier incident of forgery in 2013.
The court also heard that Ang was uncooperative during investigations, brushing off many questions by saying “no comments”, and refusing to sign his statements.
For theft, Ang could have been jailed for up to seven years, and fined. For forgery, he could have been jailed for up to 15 years, and fined.
