Woman who used Lee Kuan Yew’s name to cheat others charged
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SINGAPORE — A 67-year-old woman was charged on Thursday (June 1) with cheating a man out of more than S$200,000 over the span of 14 years, and allegedly deceived him by claiming that the money was meant for a “Mr Lee Kuan Yew”.
Tan Hwee Ngo is accused of cheating Mr Tan Soy Kiang, who is in his 70s, between 1999 and 2003. She faces a total of 169 charges of cheating.
Court documents showed that in June 1999, the accused had allegedly duped Mr Tan into withdrawing a sum of S$53,161.64 from his Central Provident Fund savings account.
She allegedly told Mr Tan that payments were needed for a “Mr Lee Kuan Yew”, but the court documents did not explicitly state whether she was referring to Singapore’s late founding Prime Minister.
From January 2000 to December 2013, the accused had allegedly asked Mr Tan to hand over S$500 every month to a woman called Boo Sok Hiang, who has since died. Again, Tan allegedly convinced the elderly man that the money was meant for “Mr Lee”.
Tan’s lawyer Mathew Kurian said she is contesting the charges. She is out on a S$20,000 bail and her case will be heard again on June 22.
