A Malaysian man was hauled to court yesterday after he allegedly cheated a hawker while posing as a journalist from Shin Min Daily News.

Goh Ting Chee, 39, who was charged with one count of cheating, is accused of duping Ms Tan Wang Tee, 57, into giving him $500 as a deposit for a purported advertisement placement. He allegedly committed the offence at Pek Kio Market and Food Centre at Block 41A, Cambridge Road, on June 22.

Speaking from the dock, Goh told District Judge Christopher Goh yesterday that the incident was a misunderstanding. He said that he is a reporter from MBest Media and was then wearing his media pass.

He added that Ms Tan was the one who said he was from the Chinese evening paper.

The prosecution asked the court for a three-week adjournment for additional charges to be tendered against him.

Goh, who was unrepresented, was offered bail of $20,000. He will be back in court on July 20.

In a statement on Wednesday evening, police said they arrested Goh at Block 112, Bukit Purmei, on Tuesday.

Several hawkers and Shin Min had alerted the police to the case last week.

The Chinese paper also posted a notice on its Facebook page last Friday.

It said: "Shin Min would like to clarify that it did not send anyone to sell the above-mentioned packages, and hopes businesses will be on the alert."

Shaffiq Alkhatib