Cortina Watch ex-staff, 33, cheats customers of almost S$500,000 to repay his own credit card debts

A former employee of luxury watch retailer Cortina Watch used a staff purchase scheme to cheat customers of almost S$500,000 to repay his credit card debts.

According to CNA, Soh Jian Kun, 33, pleaded guilty on Jan. 2 to four amalgamated charges of cheating.

Another 13 charges will be taken into considering during sentencing.

Between September 2024 and July 2025, Soh cheated 14 victims of a total of S$494,583.

In debt

Court documents seen by Mothership revealed that Soh had worked at Cortina Watch since 2015.

After being posted to the Marina Bay Sands outlet in 2017 or 2018, his salary increased and he began applying for credit cards.

At one point, Soh had about seven different credit cards, which he used to splurge on luxury items and travel, accruing significant debt.

He later sought help from Credit Counselling Singapore and was enrolled in a debt consolidation plan.

However, he was unable to keep up with it.

Despite borrowing from moneylenders, Soh continued to struggle financially and eventually decided to cheat victims, which included friends, acquaintances and former customers.

He knew that these victims trusted him by virtue of their relationship with him, and given his long employment at Cortina Watch.

Staff purchase scheme

Court documents showed that Cortina Watch had a staff purchase scheme that allowed employees who had worked there for at least one year to buy watches that were difficult to obtain on the open market for themselves or their next-of-kin.

Employees who wanted to use the scheme were required to submit a physical form detailing the watch model, price and quantity.

Soh believed the scheme was not closely scrutinised and hence saw it as a loophole he could exploit.

As such luxury watches typically have high resale value, he believed that he could persuade buyers to purchase watches through him under the scheme.

In order to maintain the ruse, Soh sent forged receipts and copies of forms bearing Cortina Watch's company stamp to victims. He also sent them fabricated screenshots of conversations with purported employees of the retailer.

Victims were told to make deposits of up to half the retail price of the watches.

One victim, who was Soh's friend from national service, transferred S$181,350 to him for seven watches from brands, including Rolex and Patek Philippe.

However, Soh never intended to obtain any watches. Instead, he used the funds to finance his debt.

He initially planned to repay earlier victims with payments from subsequent ones — a Ponzi scheme — by claiming that Cortina Watch had discovered his misuse of the scheme and would cancel and refund all purchases.

However, his plan failed.

Arrested

Soh was eventually arrested on Jul. 17, 2025, and was remanded before being released on bail six days later.

According to court documents, Soh was cooperative during investigations and had voluntarily provided the details of three other victims who had yet to file police reports.

CNA reported that one of the victims, who is Soh's former secondary school classmate, addressed the court in support of his application to recover S$26,100 from Soh.

He said he had trusted Soh because of their friendship, and had also personally verified that Soh was indeed working at Cortina Watch.

The victim added that after paying an initial deposit of 25 to 30 per cent, Soh repeatedly asked for more money, later claiming it was needed to cover his mother’s hospital bills.

When Soh later said his mother had died, the victim gave Soh additional funds.

Yet to fully compensate victims

The prosecution sought a sentence of 58 to 67 months in jail for Soh, while the defence argued for a lighter sentence, CNA reported.

Sentencing was adjourned to February for Soh’s lawyer to submit proof that Soh lacks the financial means to fully compensate the victims.

So far, Soh has made partial restitution of S$13,000 to two victims.

If convicted of cheating, one may be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years' jail and a fine.

The maximum sentence is doubled for amalgamated offences.

Top photos via Cortina Watch Raffles City/Google Maps (for illustration purposes only) and Canva