SINGAPORE - A 36-year-old married man got into a romantic relationship with a woman he met online, and then cheated her of more than $100,000, a court heard.

Alvin Tan Beng Chwee gambled the money away at the casino and used it to cover his expenses.

On Monday (Oct 17), Tan was jailed for 18 months for his crimes.

He pleaded guilty to two out of three charges of cheating.

A district court heard that Tan got to know the 35-year-old woman on an online dating application in July 2014. Unknown to her, Tan was married with a child.

In August that year, the woman told Tan that she was interested in investing her money and he offered to help invest the money in foreign exchange trades.

On Aug 4, she handed him $50,000 in cash.

Tan neither gave her any details of the said investment, nor any documents in relation to the purported investment.

But she trusted him as they were in a romantic relationship, the court heard.

A week later, on Aug 11, Tan suggested that they enter into a joint investment in foreign exchange trading. The investment was to be for a sum of $100,000 and both Tan and the woman would put in $50,000 each.

That same day, she passed Tan $50,000 in cash.

But Tan did not enter into any investments on the woman's behalf. Instead, he gambled the money away at the casino at Resorts World Sentosa and spent some of it on his own personal expenses.

In August 2014, Tan also conned the woman of $1,420, saying that he would help her apply for an Australian work permit.

She made a police report in February last year (2015).

Tan has since returned $76,000 back to the woman.

The maximum punishment for cheating and dishonestly inducing a person to deliver property is 10 years' jail and a fine per charge.