Woman in S'pore obeyed online boyfriend and opened bank account used in Internet love scam

Source: The Star

SINGAPORE: A married woman entered into a relationship with a man she met online, and agreed to open a bank account on his behalf.

Lim Gek Hong's online boyfriend identified as "Kelvin Lin" used the account to dupe two people in an Internet love scam, and they lost S$167,000 in total in early 2023.

Lim, 50, was sentenced to seven weeks' jail after she pleaded guilty to a cheating charge on April 22.

The prosecution said that she did not carry out the scam, but helped Lin by deceiving the bank into believing that she was the sole owner of the account.

Without disclosing details about the pair's relationship and how they met, Deputy Public Prosecutor Eunice Chew told the court that in November 2022, Lin asked Lim to open the bank account as he was purportedly unable to do so in Singapore.

The DPP added: "The accused had initially refused but eventually relented due to her feelings for him."

On Dec 17, 2022, she opened the account and did not inform the bank that Lin would be making use of it.

She later went to a Jurong eatery and handed him a bank card linked to the account which was later used in the love scam.

On April 22, the prosecutor asked the court to sentence Lim to up to 12 weeks' jail, adding that she was initially expected to plead guilty on Feb 13.

But she failed to turn up in court and a warrant of arrest was issued against her.

Police managed to contact her on March 27, and she surrendered herself to the authorities five days later.

For cheating, an offender can be jailed for up to three years and fined. - The Straits Times (Singapore)/Asia News Network