Man, 31, befriends woman, 25, on Carousell, cheats her of S$268k, gets 23 months' jail

A 31-year-old man was sentenced on Feb. 5 to 23 months in prison for cheating a 25-year-old woman he met on Carousell out of over S$268,000 over seven months.

He led the woman into thinking they had a real friendship, then pretended he needed money for a slew of reasons, such as funding a court case.

In reality, he used the money to fund his gambling habit.

The man did not stop despite knowing that the woman had already given him all her money, a large part of which came from insurance and CPF payouts received following her mother's passing.

PS4 listing on Carousell

According to court documents seen by Mothership, on Jul. 24, 2021, the man, Thevendran s/o Elan Goven, posted a listing on Carousell for a Playstation 4 (PS4).

The victim responded and was told by Thevendran to pay a deposit of S$150 in order for the console to be delivered to her within seven days.

The victim complied, and the pair continued messaging each other on Carousell on unrelated matters before switching over to WhatsApp.

Three days later, Thevendran asked the woman for the remaining S$150 for the PS4, even though the PS4 had not been delivered.

She was only supposed to pay off this remaining sum upon delivery.

He also asked her to pay an additional S$49 for some games.

The victim transferred S$199 to Thevendran.

Victim believed they fostered friendship

After this initial encounter, Thevendran continued messaging the victim on WhatsApp and eventually began calling the victim.

The victim believed she had fostered a friendship with Thevendran.

Between Aug. 17, 2021, and Jan. 9, 2022, Thevendran deceived the victim into sending him money on 57 occasions, citing a variety of reasons.

He lied to her that he needed to borrow money to fund his court case, pay for court bail and pay for his dental bill, among others.

In fact, Thevendran intended to use the money to pay for his personal expenses and gambling debts.

On several occasions, the victim transferred S$10,000 to Thevendran.

Continued despite knowing victim had no more money

Thevendran knew as early as Aug. 18, 2021, that the money the victim was sending him was from the insurance and CPF payouts she had received following her mother's death.

By Dec. 23, 2021, Thevendran also knew that the victim had already given up all her money to him, but he persisted in his deception.

The victim had told him multiple times between November 2021 and February 2022 that she was left without money to pay for her expenses.

Across three occasions, Thevendran returned the victim a total of S$5,000.

Thevendran's deception was found out after the victim transferred S$26,000 from her father's bank account without her father's knowledge.

Her father then reported the missing money to the police, and the ensuing police investigations uncovered Thevendran's wrongdoing.

In total, Thevendran cheated the woman out of roughly S$268,520, including the money for the PS4 that was never delivered.

Sentencing

In court, Deputy Public Prosecutor Suriya Prakash highlighted that Thevendran did not stop even after all of the victim's money was gone, The Straits Times reported.

Thevendran's defence lawyer told the court in mitigation that Thevendran appreciates the gravity of his actions and the harm he has done to the victim and her father.

The lawyer also pointed out that Thevendran has undergone counselling and has stopped offending for four years.

During sentencing, District Judge Janet Wang noted the psychological harm and financial loss done to the victim, ST wrote.

She also said that the court is mindful of the steps Thevendran has taken to address his gambling addiction.

It was noted that Thevendran had made a voluntary restitution of S$104,000, slightly less than 40 per cent of the total amount he cheated from the victim.

This was done between two and three years after the last occasion when he cheated the victim.

Thevendran pleaded guilty to one count of cheating in an earlier court hearing.

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