Woman jailed for swindling over $3.6m from boss, who depleted life savings helping her

Woman jailed for swindling over $3.6m from boss, who depleted life savings helping her
Lynne Charlotte James cheated her boss in 2,253 instances from 2008 to 2017, and he now lives in a rented home with his wife after depleting his life savings.
PHOTO: The Straits Times

SINGAPORE — A woman swindled her boss of more than $3.67 million after saying she was a bankrupt and needed his help to pay "fees" to the Insolvency and Public Trustee's Office (IPTO).

Lynne Charlotte James cheated her boss in 2,253 instances from May 2008 to October 2017, and he now lives in a rented home with his wife after depleting his life savings helping her.

The couple had also sold two of their properties to raise money for her.

The 69-year-old man, whose details were redacted from court documents, had taken cash from his wife and borrowed more than $1 million from his niece to raise funds for Lynne.

On March 13, Lynne, 47, who has not made any restitution, was sentenced to 12 years' jail after pleading guilty to five counts of cheating.

Before handing down the sentence, District Judge Shawn Ho said this was a "heartrending case" and noted the amount the victim had borrowed from his niece.

The judge said the victim had a stroke owing to the stress after being cheated, and also has cancer.

Without revealing details, the judge added that the mental health of the man's wife suffered and she had received psychiatric help to address it. However, she cannot afford to continue treatment.

The couple's daughter had committed self-harm and cut her forearms, said the judge. He did not elaborate on whether it was due to the case.

In earlier proceedings, the prosecution told the court Lynne had used the ill-gotten gains to settle her personal expenses and repay loans that she had taken from moneylenders.

Around 2006, she worked at a real estate firm, whose details were redacted from court documents, and was the victim's subordinate.

She was facing bankruptcy in 2008. Court documents did not state if she had indeed declared bankruptcy.

Deputy public prosecutors (DPPs) Edwin Soh and Louis Ngia stated in court documents that Lynne had devised a plan to cheat the victim. In 2008, she told the victim she was a bankrupt.

The DPPs said: "She then lied to the victim by stating that the (IPTO) had retained funds in her bankruptcy estate, and that she required the victim to help her pay various fees to IPTO before IPTO would release the funds to her."

The man believed her and gave her money. She continued asking for more.

Lynne claimed that once the money was paid, IPTO would release the funds in her so-called "bankruptcy estate", which purportedly included the amount she had paid with his contribution.

She told him she would repay everything she had borrowed from him.

But Lynne claimed she would not be able to do this if IPTO did not release her money.

This convinced him to continue transferring money to Lynne, in the hope that IPTO would release her "funds".

To corroborate her lies, Lynne created fictitious e-mails from IPTO and the Ministry of Law, purportedly demanding from her various fees payable to IPTO.

She forwarded these forged e-mails to the victim.

She created more fake e-mails, supposedly sent by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon and the Attorney-General's Chambers, allegedly asking Lynne to continue paying fees to IPTO.

She told the victim the funds he had contributed would be confiscated if he stopped paying the "fees" to IPTO, and that he would be unable to recover the cash.

The prosecutors said: "The accused warned the victim not to report the matter to the police or IPTO, (claiming) that if IPTO found out that the victim was helping her with her bankruptcy payments, IPTO would confiscate her funds and there would be no return of monies to the victim."

Lynne was charged in 2021. Court documents did not disclose how her offences came to light.

On March 13, DPP Soh asked the court to sentence Lynne to 12 years and six months' jail, saying: "The accused crimes were extremely heinous and destroyed the lives of the victim and his family members.

"Despite the immense harm caused, she has shown little remorse."

Defence lawyer Mohamed Baiross, however, said that Lynne is extremely sorry and pleaded for her to be given nine years' jail.

She is expected to begin serving her sentence on April 16 and her bail was set at $100,000 on March 13.

SINGAPORE HELPLINES

  • Samaritans of Singapore: 1800-221-4444
  • Singapore Association for Mental Health: 1800-283-7019
  • Care Corner Counselling Centre (Mandarin): 1800-353-5800
  • Institute of Mental Health's Mental Health Helpline: 6389-2222
  • Silver Ribbon: 6386-1928

ALSO READ: Newcastle bidder Nelson Loh given 58 more charges, including cheating $69m in bank loans

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

homepage

trending

trending
    Raymond Lam takes selfies with fans while touring Singapore with family
    'Sometimes people aren't careless': Ride-hailing passenger shows compassion despite driver in Selangor missing turns twice, causing 30-minute delay
    The Fantastic Four: First Steps delves into themes of found family, with 'combination of domesticity and the intergalactic cosmos'
    From green to brown: Tanah Merah, Expo and Changi Airport MRT stations to be converted to TEL stations
    Ghim Moh hawker responds to 'unfair' one-star rating over tray incident, calls reviewer 'petty'
    Long-time tech executive and Microsoft Singapore managing director Lee Hui Li dies
    'It was not how I planned to be a dad': Terence Cao speaks about fatherhood
    Etomidate found in blood of 2 people involved in fatal Punggol Road accident in May: HSA
    Nasi padang chain Hjh Maimunah to introduce colour-coded price labels
    'He asked why I was so selfish': Kym Ng recalls emotional conversation with husband about afterlife plans
    'I'm so angry': Christopher Lee shares thoughts about son Zed sharing bed with Fann Wong
    'It was the right thing to do': SBS bus captain returns missing wallet containing $2,400, work permit to distressed passenger

Singapore

Singapore
    • Ex-inmate featured in documentary on Changi's maximum security prison returns to court to face fresh charges
    • Teenager caught with vapes 5 times sentenced to 2 years at Singapore Boys’ Home
    • Singapore-registered cars must have COE of over 6 months to apply for VEP, says Malaysian transport minister
    • 'Please help us seek the truth': Sister pleads for eyewitnesses after brother dies in accident on CTE
    • Vape disposal bins available at 24 locations; users who surrender devices will not face penalty
    • Company director fined for collecting $112k in kickbacks from migrant workers
    • 1,300 names, addresses of motorists published online; police investigating
    • 7 weeks' jail for male cook who molested drunken man sleeping on bench at shopping mall
    • Male victim of fatal Toa Payoh fire was known to keep many things, say residents
    • Police warn of scammers impersonating staff from National Crime Prevention Council

Entertainment

Entertainment
    • Shinee's Taemin wants to 'create new memories' with fans at Waterbomb Singapore 2025
    • 'I want to be an independent senior': Xiang Yun on ageing positively and not relying on children
    • Chinese actor Zhang Yiyang revealed to have been executed for murder of 16-year-old girlfriend
    • Coldplay might have exposed tech CEO's alleged affair during concert
    • Cai Xukun, I-dle, Jam Hsiao: Singapore concert calendar for 2025
    • Florida police launch medical investigation into Hulk Hogan's death
    • Vanessa Kirby on filming Avengers movie while pregnant: 'The coolest thing'
    • Trump, McMahon and Undertaker pay tribute to Hulk Hogan
    • Grammy-winning jazz musician Chuck Mangione dies at 84
    • Hulk Hogan, who helped turn pro wrestling into billion-dollar spectacle, dies at 71

Lifestyle

Lifestyle
    • Wedding ang bao rates in Singapore (July 2025): How much should you give?
    • From Paris to Raffles Place: Singaporean-founded deli Nonette opens pop-up, here's what you should try
    • Digital nomad in JB: Can Singaporeans really work from across the Causeway?
    • Books Kinokuniya's new outlet at Raffles City opens, features reading room and outlet-exclusive items
    • Prostate cancer among most common cancers in Singaporean men - is it preventable?
    • New glamping experience in Mandai starts in August, here's what Colugo Camp has to offer
    • 'How dare you': YouTubers call out London stall for selling 'fake Malaysian food'
    • Queen Elizabeth's fashion looks to go on display in new London exhibition
    • Cat A COE prices remain unchanged in second bidding exercise for July 2025
    • Singaporeans continue to hold world's most powerful passport in latest ranking

Digicult

Digicult
    • Slim, sleek, but slightly too short-lived: Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge review
    • World's best Dota 2 teams to compete for $1m prize pool in Singapore in November
    • Elon Musk's Starlink network suffers rare global outage
    • Spy cockroaches and AI robots: Germany plots the future of warfare
    • 'Give a positive review': Hidden AI prompt found in academic paper by NUS researchers
    • 'Report 1 shop, another 10 appear': Hoyo Fest artists on copyright struggles
    • NTU penalises 3 students over use of AI tools; they dispute university's findings
    • Australia social media teen ban software trial organisers say the tech works
    • Disney, Universal sue image creator Midjourney for copyright infringement
    • Initiative by IMDA, AI Verify Foundation tests AI accuracy, trustworthiness in real-world scenarios

Money

Money
    • Up 4.3%: Singapore's economy grew in Q2 despite US tariff fears
    • Britain and India sign free trade pact during Modi visit
    • HDB launches 10,209 BTO and balance flats, as priority scheme for singles kick in
    • US-Philippines trade talks yield modest tariff shift after Trump-Marcos meeting
    • Indonesia to cut tariffs, non-tariff barriers in US trade deal
    • US, China to discuss tariff deadline extension as Trump reaches Philippines deal
    • Trump says trade deal struck with Japan includes 15% tariff
    • 10 best savings accounts in Singapore with the highest interest rates (July 2025)
    • US Senate passes aid, public broadcasting cuts in victory for Trump
    • Beneath China's resilient economy, a life of pay cuts and side hustles

Latest

Latest
  • Daily roundup: Nasi padang chain Hjh Maimunah to introduce colour-coded price labels — and other top stories today
  • Philippine Supreme Court voids impeachment complaint against VP Duterte
  • Thailand rejects international mediation to end fighting with Cambodia
  • YouTube generation propels Japan's anti-foreigner politics into the mainstream
  • Hong Kong issues arrest warrants for 19 overseas activists, offers bounties for 15
  • School roof collapse in India's Rajasthan kills 4 children, media reports
  • Why are Thailand and Cambodia fighting along their border?
  • Thailand, Cambodia exchange heavy artillery fire as fighting rages for second day
  • 9 people killed in bus crash in Vietnam

In Case You Missed It

In Case You Missed It
  • Toddler wanders out of home in Selangor, mauled by stray dogs
  • 'I was embarrassed': Malaysian security guard in viral knockout by MMA coach 'thankful' he wasn't fired
  • Mid-air brawl erupts on AirAsia X flight from KL to Chengdu over loud conversation
  • Robber drops gun and misfires after failed clinic robbery in JB
  • $30 one-off cash handout, petrol price cut: Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim announces measures to tackle living costs
  • 'I felt helpless': Female tourist claims she was sexually harassed by ice cream vendor in Turkey
  • Unhealthy air quality in Malaysia, NEA warns of potential transboundary haze
  • School van in JB overturns after hitting uncovered manhole, 16 students injured
  • Thai woman allegedly extorts $15m from senior Buddhist monks over 3 years, gambles away almost everything
This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.