S'pore man, 34, allegedly tricks 46 couples into paying S$396,562 in banquet fees to him instead of hotel

A restaurant manager in Singapore allegedly forged payment documents and cheated 63 newlywed couples who had booked wedding banquet packages at five-star hotels and restaurants over three years of almost S$510,000.

According to Shin Min Daily News, 34-year-old Tan Han Qiang faced five charges of cheating and criminal breach of trust.

He pleaded guilty to two of the charges in court on Jan. 15, with the remaining charges to be taken into consideration during sentencing.

His sentencing has been adjourned to Mar. 24.

Replaced the company's bank account details with his own

Citing court documents, Shin Min reported that at the time of the incident, Tan was working as a food and beverage sales manager at The Legends Fort Canning Park, a company which then owned Hotel Fort Canning and a town club.

Tan had joined the company in March 2021, and his duties included liaising with customers who wanted to hold their weddings at the hotel, issuing invoices, and directing them to make payments to the company's bank account.

In one instance, a customer was unable to transfer funds directly to the company due to technical issues.

As such, Tan asked the customer to transfer the money into his personal account first, before helping the customer to make the payment at the hotel counter using his own debit card.

However, Tan later realised that his name did not appear in the transaction records and decided to exploit the loophole.

He modified payment documents, replacing the company's bank account details with his own, deceiving customers into transferring the money directly to him.

Tan was reportedly in debt due to gambling and had therefore decided to cheat customers of their money to repay his debts.

He also used the money sent to him by new customers to settle outstanding amounts owed to earlier victims, to avoid detection.

According to charge sheets seen by Mothership, Tan deceived 46 customers into transferring a total of S$396,562.55 to his account between May 23, 2021 and Jan. 21, 2023.

Customer reported him

In January 2023, a customer alerted one of Tan's colleagues, informing him that the bank account number on the payment receipt did not belong to The Legends Fort Canning Park, but a private individual instead.

Tan's direct supervisor later discovered what Tan had done after verifying the matter with the company's human resources department and learning that the bank account listed on the receipt was Tan's personal account.

Tan reportedly failed to compensate the company for their losses and was dismissed on Feb. 10, 2023.

The company also lodged a police report against him 13 days later.

Repeated offences in his other job

Shin Min reported that Tan later took on a similar role as a sales manager at Peach Garden, a Chinese restaurant at Hotel Miramar, in June 2023.

Between Jun. 19, 2023 and Oct. 2, 2023, he allegedly used the same method to defraud 17 customers of a total of S$113,374.

In October 2023, a customer contacted Tan's supervisor, stating that he had made payment but was unable to contact Tan.

Tan's crimes later came to light after his supervisor reviewed the customer's payment records and found that the customer had transferred the money to Tan's personal bank account instead.

The defendant ultimately only compensated Peach Garden S$10,323 for the losses.

Top photos via Canva