SINGAPORE – A man duped 35 women into sending him photos and videos of their private parts by pretending to be a female gynaecologist from a private hospital.
Ooi Chuen Wei, 37, was sentenced to 40 months’ jail on Wednesday.
The Malaysian pleaded guilty to six charges of personation. Fifteen similar charges were taken into consideration.
The court heard that in late 2016, Ooi created a Facebook profile styling himself as “Dr Janice Lee Yan Hooi” from “Gleneagles Medical Singapore”. He used a random photograph of a Malaysian woman as his profile picture.
To make his account seem more legitimate, Ooi added both male and female Facebook friends and created an Instagram and LinkedIn profile using the same name.
After identifying female victims to target, he sent them a message introducing himself as Dr Lee and offered to share a medical plan for breast and sexual health with monthly consultations. He said the medical plan was approved by “Gleneagles Medical Centre”.
He then sent them step-by-step instructions on how to conduct a massage of their breasts and genital areas and asked them to send him videos of them doing so.
Ooi claimed the videos would enable him to diagnose any health issues, so he could provide them with a treatment plan.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) R Arvindren said on Wednesday: “This was essentially a telemedicine ruse by the accused. The accused downloaded and saved the videos and pictures after he received them… the victims believed the accused’s elaborate lies.”
DPP Arvindren said that Ooi would avoid speaking to the victims in order not to blow his cover as a female gynaecologist.
Between 2018 and 2021, his 35 victims sent a total of 919 photos and videos to Ooi. The women cannot be named due to a gag order.
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Ooi attempted to cheat another seven victims but was unsuccessful.
His offences came to light after one of his victims became suspicious in 2021.
She conducted her own research and realised that there was nobody by the name of Dr Janice Lee Yan Hooi working at Gleneagles.
She lodged a police report which led to Ooi’s arrest on November 11, 2021.
During investigations, Ooi admitted that he knew the victims would feel alarmed and humiliated if they found out he was not a female doctor.
In sentencing, District Judge Luke Tan noted that there was a high number of victims involved and the offences took place over a prolonged period of time.
For cheating by personation, an offender can be jailed for up to five years, fined or both.
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
