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Car dealership manager cheated buyers of over $222,000 in deposits


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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/car-dealership-manager-admits-to-cheating-buyers-of-over-222000-in-deposits

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SINGAPORE - A manager of a car dealership lied to sellers that he would pay their outstanding car loans so that he could buy their vehicles with a smaller outlay.

He then cheated buyers of these used cars into paying him more than $222,000 in deposits, knowing full well that ownership could not be transferred because of the unpaid loans.

Ng Leeson, 45, pleaded guilty to six counts of cheating and one of criminal breach of trust as an agent on Tuesday (Oct 5).

The court heard that he was a manager at B Leasing, a company that bought and sold second-hand cars. He had oversight of the day-to-day operations.

Between January and March 2015, Ng conspired with his colleague Chong Zhuang Jian, a 36-year-old salesman, to carry out the scheme.

Chong was promised a commission of about $300 for each car he purchased and $500 for each sale.

The pair sourced for cars with outstanding loans on motoring portal sgCarMart. 

They would offer to pay the seller's outstanding loan to the bank directly and thus obtain the car for a smaller sum. For instance, if the agreed sale price was $100,000 and the outstanding loan was $99,000, they would offer $1,000.

Ng then advertised these cars for sale on the same portal at attractive prices and deceived buyers into thinking that they would be the registered owners after they had paid deposits.

When sellers and buyers sensed that something was amiss and tried to reach the pair, they were not contactable.

The duo purchased nine cars and sold seven of them between January and March 2015.

On top of his managerial role at B Leasing, Ng was also the sole owner of Leeson Motors, a company that bought and sold used cars.

His offences came to light when a seller lodged a police report against Leeson Motors in July 2015 because Ng failed to pay her over $41,000 for her car.

A search on the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority website showed that Leeson Motors is no longer in operation. No results were yielded for car dealerships with the name B Leasing.

Ng is due to be sentenced on Oct 20. Chong had been sentenced to two years and three months' jail in February 2019 for his offences.

No restitution has been made to the victims.

For each count of cheating, Ng could be jailed up to 10 years and fined.

The maximum penalty for criminal breach of trust as an agent carries a jail term of 20 years and a fine.

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1 minute ago, mikk123 said:

when the person really really needs $$$$, he will do anything.... 

This kind of case will appear regularly in the news....why would anyone still wants to do it? 😁

Got watch squid game...?😁

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It's a painful and expensive lesson for car buyers/sellers. 

Hope he gets a heavy jail term and a big fine which if he's unable to pay, will add on more years. 

They targetted at sellers with outstanding car loans and posted same cars for sale at low prices, sometimes on same platform. 

Patterns and methods many many, one may not always catch up with what crooks cook up to lure gullible and naive sellers/buyers.

Perhaps it is useful to remember this old saying :

If it's too good to be true, it's 99.9% a bait of sorts. Greed and too trusting are common reasons why ppl will bite. 

Err on the suspicious/cautious side. Trust must be earned, not auto give based on outward appearance, speech, confidence and charisma, even if one comes visiting in a gleaming sports car or Mercs etc cos can easily be rented. Even title on name card means zero and only cost $10-50 to print a few boxes. 

There will always be such cheating cases as long as there are fishes to be baited. 

I place the responsibility solely on both car sellers and buyers to just swim away. They always have a choice. Do research, ask around and know what is correct procedures of car buying/selling. Dun be lazy. Otherwise, pay a hefty school fee at life's hard rock, I mean Hard-Knock University. 

Stay safe all 

Cheers 

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Agreed. Trust is like Respect…to be earned not ask and expect to be given.

To serve justice…hope the judge will give thrusting sentence to all scumbags whom have duly earned their just deserts 😁

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Twincharged
1 hour ago, Ct3833 said:

unless the amount of risk is small, otherwise, I would go for reputable dealers if I need my next car. 

Cash and carry lor .hand over cashier order or $1000 bills and transfer on the spot. 

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Sometimes I wonder what's the IQ level of these ppl. They think sellers/buyers are just gonna walk away and pretend nothing has happen and blame it on tough luck?

People who scam/cheat for much less on Carousell already got caught. 

 

 

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5 minutes ago, Jamesc said:

image.thumb.png.d69548068eb912b5b23810c2dfb13929.png

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One more...

#9 Bet on toto is betterer and safer...😁

 

Agreed on #2

Be kind...don't call that number...poor original owner...😅

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Do this must cosmetic surgery change face.

Buy foreign country passport.

Never come back SG again.

Cheat people 222k not enough for all this.

:D

Then cheat people

wait at home for police

to take them to Changi Hilton. 

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