3 men in S'pore get jail for scamming woman of S$4,000 with fake gold ingots

Three men in Singapore were sentenced to six months' jail on Oct. 9 after they cheated a woman of S$4,000 with fake gold ingots in June 2024.

According to the Singapore Police Force (SPF) on Oct. 9, Wen Yanchun, 52, Zhu Xiaoyuan, 51, and Kang Shouming, 62, worked together to cheat the woman by pretending that they had discovered genuine gold ingots during excavation works in Singapore.

They were later arrested after she found out that the ingots were fake and lodged a police report.

What happened

On Jun. 19, 2024, Wen and Zhu had approached the woman before presenting her with gold-coloured ingots.

They claimed that they found the ingots while excavating at a construction site in Singapore.

The two men also prepared a document with "old Chinese writings", resembling an old will, to convince the woman.

They later asked the victim for help to verify the worth of the gold-coloured ingots.

She accompanied them to a goldsmith shop along Eu Tong Sen Street to conduct authentication checks on the ingots.

The men passed her a real gold piece they had obtained from a bracelet belonging to Wen's wife, instead of the ingots.

They told her that they did not want to present the ingots to the shop staff to avoid raising suspicion, and that it was cut out from one of the gold-coloured ingots.

The gold piece was then authenticated and the woman was told that it was worth about S$450.

Wen and Zhu then reached an agreement with the woman for her help to safekeep some of the gold-coloured ingots in exchange for collateral.

She then handed over S$4,000 in cash in exchange for 30 ingots.

Report made, arrested the next day

The woman later returned to the goldsmith shop to authenticate the ingots but found out that they were fake.

She subsequently lodged a police report.

Police identified Wen and Zhu through "extensive ground enquiries" and with help from surveillance footages, and arrested them on Jun. 20, 2024.

Further investigations also led the officers to Kang, who was also later arrested.

Over 80 pieces of gold-coloured ingots, 6 gold-coloured mini-Buddha statues, and the fake document resembling an old will were seized.

The police urged members of the public to be wary of such scams, and to "be wary of

offers that sound too good to be true".

They also suggested that members of the public enlist a professional’s assistance to verify the authenticity and value of any high value items before making payment.

Top photos by Singapore Police Force and Mothership