Housewife who cheated 53 victims of $35.4M in ponzi scheme jailed 14 years
SINGAPORE — A housewife who ran a ponzi scheme for over five years promised investors returns of up to 30 per cent within as little as six months, a court heard.
With her tall tales of “risk free” investments, Leong Lai Yee cheated 53 victims out of a total of $35,420,685.
The conwoman, now 55, even duped some victims into pawning their jewellery or withdrawing their CPF funds to invest with her.
When her lies started to unravel, Leong skipped town in May 2015. But she ran out of money some two years later and surrendered herself to the Singapore embassy in Bangkok in November 2017.
At the State Courts on Friday (17 May), Leong was jailed for 14 years after she pleaded guilty to 50 cheating charges and one count of using criminal proceeds.
Another 806 similar charges were considered in her sentencing.
‘Distressed properties’
Between January 2010 and May 2015, Leong told victims that she had bought “distressed properties” in Singapore’s prime districts from sellers who were on the brink of bankruptcy and therefore in urgent need of cash.
She said she would resell the homes at a tidy profit to foreign buyers who were keen to invest in Singapore properties at a higher price.
Leong promised victims guaranteed returns, and profits of 10 to 30 per cent within six to eight months.
As part of her ruse, Leong claimed that she worked with a banker who was familiar with the properties, as well as a lawyer who would help in the property transactions.
Leong said she had been dealing with such investments for many years and had “insider knowledge” due to her connections with the banker and lawyer, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Kenneth Chin told the court.
“The accused represented to the victims that their investments with her would be risk-free as she would collect a 40 per cent deposit from an interested buyer upfront,” said the DPP.
“The deposit would allegedly be forfeited if the buyer backed out from the property transaction. In which case, the accused would be able to re-market the ‘distressed properties’ to other buyers,” he added.
But Leong neither showed victims any documents nor details of the supposed properties. She told them that their investments with her were done “on a personal level and based on trust”, the court heard.
The conwoman would only give victims personal guarantee letters which were signed by her.
Besides her “distressed properties” scheme, Leong also told some victims that she provided “business funding” to start-ups, or that she provided businesses with short term financing. For this ploy, Leong promised victims who invested with her monthly returns of 7 to 9 per cent.
Deception unravels
Leong encouraged the victims to increase their investments with her over time. She also asked them to refer others who would be interested in investing in her distressed properties and/or business funding schemes.
She would ask victims to make their investments into her bank account, or those of other victims. Hence, she was able to dupe victims into believing that her schemes had lucrative returns.
By late 2014, Leong started delaying payments. She promised victims that she would refund all outstanding payments by 18 May 2015. But she was no longer able to repay her victims fully that month.
The same month, the police’s Commercial Affairs Department received 89 reports lodged by 107 people about Leong’s ponzi scheme dealing with “distressed properties”. She fled Singapore on 15 May 2015 before police investigations began.
Funds tracing by the police showed that Leong channeled the bulk of funds from victims to other victims, as well as for her personal expenses such as her car and home loans, bill payments and family expenditures.
Leong has not made any restitution.
The prosecution sought a jail term of between 14 and 15 years, while Leong’s lawyer Tito Isaac asked for eight to nine years’ jail.
For each of her cheating charges, Leong could have been jailed for up to 10 years along with a fine.
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