4 charged over suspected involvement in ‘blessing’ scams

SINGAPORE – Three women and a man have been charged in court over allegedly cheating victims of cash and gold in “blessing” scams.

Chinese nationals Zhong Weifeng, 58, Huang Ximing, 61, Huang Meiling, 56, and Huang Qinyan, 47, were charged with conspiracy to cheat on June 6.

On June 2, Zhong and Huang Meiling approached one of the victims and led her to Huang Qinyan, who claimed to be a Chinese physician.

The victim was told she was experiencing misfortune due to “negative spiritual elements”, the police said on June 6.

To ward off misfortune, the woman was said to have handed $700 in cash and a gold necklace to Huang Qinyan, who placed the items in a plastic bag.

Huang Qinyan performed a “cleansing ritual” on the valuables, and the victim was told to keep the plastic bag, untouched, under her bed for a month.

The woman checked the bag the next day and found that her valuables had been replaced with leaves.

On June 4, the police received a report of another scam with a similar modus operandi.

According to the police, the second victim was approached by two of the accused and convinced to place an envelope with cash into a black rubbish bag for safekeeping.

She later discovered that her money had gone missing.

Police investigations found that Huang Ximing was working together with the three women to cheat the victims.

All four were arrested on June 5.

A gold necklace, $1,311 in cash and 10,050 yuan (S$1,800) were seized.

If convicted of conspiracy to cheat, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined.