Jail for polytechnic student who scammed 147 of $360k on Carousell

SINGAPORE — A polytechnic student masterminded a scam on online marketplace Carousell that duped 147 victims who wanted to buy mobile phones into paying him a total of $360,600.

Teo Jun Hao then went to Thailand with his ill-gotten gains and used the money to gamble.

Teo, 24, and his then girlfriend Vanessa Chew Shi Qing, 26, were arrested at Changi Airport on Oct 25, 2022, when they returned to Singapore.

He was sentenced to four years and four months' jail on Tuesday (Aug 22) after he pleaded guilty to one count of cheating and two counts of dealing with the benefits of criminal activities. Chew's case is pending.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Zhi Hao told the court that Teo had hatched the scam without Chew's knowledge, some time on or before Aug 27, 2022, to fund his gambling activities on illegal platforms.

As part of his ruse, Teo went on Carousell and claimed he had devices such as new iPhones for sale at discounted rates even though he did not have the items and knew that he could not fulfil any of the orders.

The DPP told the court: "Teo (had) sought the assistance of his friends from his polytechnic to write fictitious positive reviews of his Carousell account to boost (its) business reputation.

"During the period of offending, he wanted his Carousell account to 'look more believable' so as to entice the victims."

The prosecutor did not disclose the polytechnic's name.

Between Aug 27 and Oct 1, 2022, Teo communicated with the 147 victims, claiming he would sell them genuine mobile phones.

They later transferred a total of $360,600 to his bank account, but none of them received their devices.

In September 2022, Teo transferred $7,900 from the account to one belonging to Chew without telling her how he had obtained the cash.

He later asked her to withdraw $6,000. The DPP said that Chew complied and handed the amount to him. She also transferred the remaining $1,900 back to him.

On Sept 28, 2022, Teo suspected that the authorities had frozen his bank account and decided to flee to Thailand with Chew.

The pair left Singapore that day with $20,000 in cash and two gold chains — which were bought earlier — worth nearly $33,000 in total.

According to court documents, Teo also sought the help of a friend, Bryan Lim, 24, then a university student, to conceal his ill-gotten gains.

DPP Tan said: "He instructed Bryan to receive the monies from him, then either transfer the monies to Vanessa (Chew) or other individuals in batches, or to safe keep the funds for him."

Between Sept 28 and Oct 1, 2022, Teo performed four fund transfers to move $64,145 from his bank account to Lim's.

Lim then concealed the monies by, for instance, depositing a portion of it into Chew's bank account.

The scam victims filed police reports between Oct 1 and 17, 2022.

The State Courts issued a warrant for Teo's arrest on Oct 10 and an Interpol Red Notice linked to his case was issued three days later. Such a notice requests law enforcement units worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender or other legal action.

Teo and Chew returned to Singapore on Oct 25, 2022, and were arrested soon after.

The DPP said that Teo has not made any restitution, but the police managed to seize more than $40,600 from sources such as bank accounts belonging to Teo, Lim and Chew.

Teo was represented by lawyers Jonathan Wong, Riko Isaac and Rachel Ong from Tembusu Law.

In the mitigation plea, the lawyers said that their client is immensely remorseful, adding: "He promises not to reoffend in the future and is resolved to change his life for the better."

For cheating, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.