Woman, 77, loses $44k in cash and jewellery to con artists claiming she was cursed
They claimed a 90-year-old doctor could lift the curse - for a price.
A 77-year-old retiree was scammed of more than $44,000 in cash and valuables after being deceived by three Chinese nationals in an elaborate scam involving false claims of a curse and a fictitious doctor.
One of the accused, 56-year-old Li Yu Lian (transliterated), pleaded guilty on July 18 to one count of cheating. The incident happened in November 2019.
According to Shin Min Daily News, the victim was walking near Block 815 Jellicoe Road on the morning of Nov 16, 2019, when she was approached by a woman, Liang Gui Lian (transliterated), who asked if she knew of a 90-year-old doctor living nearby.
Liang was reportedly an accomplice of the accused.
When the woman said she didn't, Li joined the conversation, claiming to know the doctor personally.
Li then claimed the elderly woman had three sons and a daughter - a detail the group had learned in advance.
Having gained the woman's trust, she told her that she was cursed and needed the doctor's help to lift it.
But treatment, she said, required a large sum of money, and the doctor only treated patients in even numbers. She then used this as a reason to accompany the victim.
The victim returned home to collect $8,000 in cash, gold jewellery and her bank book, then withdrew another $36,000 from a bank near Boon Keng MRT station with Li by her side.
The pair returned to Jellicoe Road, where they met Liang and a third accomplice, Zhu Mian Fang (transliterated), who posed as the doctor's granddaughter.
Zhu told the victim she too had been cured of a similar curse.
She instructed the victim to place all her cash and jewelry into a brown reusable bag for the ritual. She was then handed an identical bag and told not to open it until midnight - and to keep the ritual secret.
When the victim returned home and shared the story with her children, her daughter opened the bag - only to find plastic bags and drinks inside.
Gone were the real contents: $44,000 in cash, three gold bracelets, two gold rings, two pairs of earrings, a Rolex watch, and a bracelet worth $350.
Court proceedings against the accomplices are ongoing.