SINGAPORE - A recalcitrant cheat was on Monday sentenced to 50 months’ jail and fined $7,600 after he pretended to hold different positions, including that of a lawyer, to cheat 10 people of nearly $85,000 in total.

His victims included a mother who believed he was a lawyer and paid him over $45,000 to represent her son.

Thong Meng Fie, 46, had committed some of his offences while he was under a remission order, shortly after he was last released from prison in April 2019.

As part of the order, he was supposed to stay out of trouble from April 27, 2019 to Aug 25, 2020. Instead, Thong returned to a life of crime mere months after his release.

He was ordered to spend an additional 386 days behind bars on Monday after he breached the order.

Thong, who used to own Growportunity Consulting, pleaded guilty in September to multiple offences, including eight counts of cheating.

After his release in 2019, he posted an online advertisement, falsely stating that the consulting company was a law firm. He even hired staff to work for him, and they were unaware that he was not qualified to practise law.

In early August 2019, a 51-year-old woman, who was looking for a lawyer to represent her son in a criminal matter, came across the advertisement and visited Thong’s office in North Bridge Road.

Thong then lied to her that he was a lawyer and discussed her son’s case with her.

In earlier proceedings, Deputy Public Prosecutor Tay Jingxi said: “After the discussion, the accused told (the woman) that he would take up her son’s case.

“To perpetuate his lie, the accused issued a ‘warrant to act’, as well as other documents stating that he would ‘represent’ (them) in the... matter.”

Thong later duped the mother into paying him $45,500 in total between Aug 14 and Nov 27 in 2019.

He used the money to cover expenses such as rental of his office and his workers’ salaries, as well as their Central Provident Fund contributions.

Court documents did not disclose what happened next, but the woman lodged a police report on Dec 13, 2019, stating that Thong had cheated her.

In early 2020, he got to know a 57-year-old facial therapist, and they kept in touch with each other.

On Oct 24, 2020, he found out that she wanted to renovate her salon in Serangoon. He then told the woman that he could help her with fengshui matters.

Thong contacted the facial therapist on Nov 1, 2020, and told her that it was purportedly a special day for prayers.

The DPP said: “The accused insisted that (the woman) let him change the fengshui of her salon.

“Believing that the accused was able and intended to do so, and feeling pressured from the accused’s repeated requests, (she) agreed, and handed the accused $500 in cash that same day.”

The woman had originally intended to use the money to buy supplies for running her salon.

On Dec 20, 2020, she told police officers that Thong had cheated her.

He did not make restitution to the mother and the facial therapist.

Besides the two women, he also cheated eight other people. To date, he has returned a total of $1,600 to two of them.