S'pore property agent behind S$16 million investment losses: Victims outraged, 15 flew to the Philippines to find developer

A 55-year-old licensed Singaporean real estate agent, who promoted an Australian property investment scheme and caused 347 investors to lose a total of S$16.21 million, was sentenced to three months' jail on Jun. 24.

She pleaded guilty to one charge under the Securities and Futures Act for consenting to her company dealing in securities without a Capital Markets Services licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

Three days after the sentencing, Wendy Kwek Siang Ling took to Facebook to address the case and ask for forgiveness.

However, the post has since sparked outrage among many of her victims, a significant number of whom are elderly investors.

Apology

In her post, Kwek described the past 11 years as the "most difficult period" of her life, saying the experience had given her time to reflect on her actions.

She apologised and asked for forgiveness, saying she recognised the consequences of her actions.

"Though I have always acted in good faith, hoping I could help my network become more successful financially, some deals just did not turn out well. This experience has reinforced for me the importance of exercising better judgment, understanding legal and regulatory framework before taking action."

Kwek added that she hoped to emerge from the experience as a "wiser and more thoughtful person" and thanked those who had continued to show her kindness and support.

One victim invested about S$180,000 in total

Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, one victim, 75-year-old Yang Fushan (transliteration), said he attended one of Kwek's investment courses about a decade ago after seeing an advertisement.

He said he had planned to invest in real estate as part of his retirement strategy, and subsequently invested about S$180,000 in projects in the Philippines, the UK and Australia.

Yang said investors were promised guaranteed rental returns and lease buyback arrangements.

However, construction was later delayed by the developer.

Despite making repeated inquiries, he received no response, leading him to suspect something was wrong.

Project remains unresolved

Another affected victim, surnamed Wu, who invested in a real estate project in the Philippines through Kwek's introduction more than 10 years ago, said that the project's statu remains unresolved.

Wu said he paid S$2,999 to attend one of Kwek's courses before investing another S$13,000 in a student apartment unit in the Philippines.

However, the apartment was never built.

He later learnt that around 91 people, most of them elderly, had invested in the same project.

According to Wu, each investor paid a deposit of at least S$10,000 for one unit, bringing the group's total investment to at least S$910,000.

After learning that Kwek had been jailed, Wu said he and around 10 other victims went to a police station on Jun. 27 in the hope of recovering their money.

Some of the victims flew to the Philippines

According to Wu, after receiving no updates from the Philippine developer for two to three years, about 15 investors travelled to the Philippines to locate him, Shin Min reported.

However, they found the developer's business premises deserted.

Although the developer later promised to refund the money after they managed to contact him, no repayments were made.

Wu added that they were also unable to contact Kwek.

He pointed out that it has been more than 10 years since he invested, but explained that he did not lodge a police report earlier as he had been waiting for the developer to respond.

He said he had almost given up hope before Kwek's sentencing prompted him to believe the case might finally see some progress.

Other victims

Another victim, surnamed Lin, told Shin Min that she was working in the research sector more than 10 years ago when she and several friends enrolled in Kwek's course due to concerns about their retirement income.

She paid a S$17,000 deposit for one apartment unit.

A separate victim said she spent two weekends attending Kwek's classes before purchasing two units, paying deposits totalling more than S$20,000.

However, more than a decade later, the apartments have yet to be built, and the money they invested has not been recovered.