SINGAPORE - Three men who purportedly tried to sell a shop owner pieces of bogus gold for $120,000 have been charged in court for attempted cheating.

Hu Wanli, 37, Liu Aimin, 42 and Zhang Fasheng, 44, are said to have offered to sell Mr Tay Hai Choon 199 ingots and six small Buddha statutes, all gold-coloured.

They are accused of doing this on Tuesday around 7pm, at a floral shop called Lasting Impressions in Tyrwhitt Road, Jalan Besar.

The three men, all Chinese nationals here on social visit passes, were arrested in an ambush, after Mr Tay went to the police.

They have been remanded in Police 'A' Division for further investigation, and their cases will next be heard in court in a week's time. This was after the court granted a Police application for more time to conduct further investigations into the men, who are believed to have been involved in similar cheating cases.

The trio each faces up to five years in jail for attempted cheating if convicted.