The owner of a renovation business, who cheated his clients of more than $200,000 and used the money to gamble in a casino, was jailed for 27 months yesterday .

Mohamad Farhan Mohamad Salleh, 31, who owns Nouveau Frontiere, was also fined a total of $6,000 on three charges of using his cousin's identity card to enter the casino at Resorts World Sentosa.

Farhan admitted to three counts each of cheating and entering the casino with his 21-year-old cousin's IC.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Ang Siok Chen said Farhan neglected his business from November 2013 to April last year, when he started to gamble.

He continued to receive orders for renovation services, even though he had no intention of performing them, as he wanted the money for gambling.

As a result, he deceived eight victims, and dishonestly induced them to give him a total sum of $216,291. He has made a partial restitution of $22,000 to one of the victims.

The amounts involved were between $15,000 and $40,645 each.

As for the casino charges, the court heard that Farhan was under a self-exclusion order, when he used his cousin's IC to enter the RWS casino to gamble in June and July last year.

Ms Ang pointed out the substantial losses suffered by the victims, and said that Farhan's scheme was premeditated and deliberate.

Farhan's lawyer, Mr G. Dinagaran, said his client, who has just become a father, intends to seek help to curb his urge for gambling after his release.

"He is a creative director of a company. He has done well. He has made some money for the company, and he wants to continue this again after his period of imprisonment,'' he said.

District Judge John Ng told Farhan he hoped that his new family and child should motivate him to "take the straight and narrow path''.

Farhan, who has a previous conviction for criminal breach of trust, could have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined for cheating.