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THE fliers in their letter boxes told of how various people had struck lottery with the help of a 'Chinese master'.
Enticed by this get-rich-quick offer, 80 people transferred a total of $1.13 million over nine months last year to a stranger's POSB account in the hope of receiving winning 4-D numbers.
On Thursday, a Malaysian man, who helped to transfer the money to his partners in Malaysia, was sent to jail for nine months.
Assistant Public Prosecutor Olivine Lin Si Shi said Ng Seh Seng, 34, worked for two people - Ah Fook and Ah Chan - who told him to open a POSB account in Singapore to receive the money.
All the victims who transferred money into the account had received fliers in the mail with details of how various people had struck the first prize in a lottery with the help of a 'Chinese master'.
Ah Fook's contact number was printed on each flier.
When the victims contacted him, he would say he was working with the 'master' and tell them to transfer a sum of money into the POSB account.
The victims were told the money would be used to buy joss sticks and to pay monks to offer prayers on their behalf.
Once the money was transferred, Ah Fook would give the victims a random 4-D number.
Shortly after that, he would contact them again and say that his master's powers were insufficient to reverse their ill fortune.
He would then refer them to Ah Chan, a greater 'master' from Thailand.
Ah Chan would repeat the same ploy, getting the victims to part with more cash.
Ah Fook and Ah Chan would contact Ng and instruct him to withdraw the money and hand it over to Ah Fook in Johor Baru on a regular basis. Ng did this between nine and 19 times a month.
One victim was conned of three sums of money ranging from $2,000 to $20,324 last July and October after getting the two bogus masters' help to improve his luck and get a set of winning 4-D numbers.
Another, a woman, was cheated of a total of $108,163 between Nov26 and Dec 19 last year.
Ng's lawyer, MrRichard Lim, described his client as a mere 'cog in a wheel' in the scam.
Ng, a father of a five-year-old son, was desperate for a job and ended up working for Ah Fook who claimed he was running a temple and needed someone to travel to Singapore to collect donations.
Mr Lim said the RM1,000 (S$430) to RM3,000 Ng earned each month was used to support his family and pay for his diabetic father's medical expenses.
The lawyer added that Ng wanted to quit after he secured a job as an electrician last October, but Ah Fook pressured him to continue.
Ng could have been jailed for up to three years and/or fined on each charge.
elena@sph.com.sg
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