Jail for ex-watch shop employee who cheated 14 people of nearly $495k over luxury watch purchases
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Soh Jian Kun, 33, who worked at Cortina Watch from 2015 to 2025, also lied to some victims that his mother had been hospitalised or had died to dupe them into handing over cash.
ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
- Soh Jian Kun, ex-Cortina Watch employee, has been jailed 50 months for cheating 14 victims of nearly $495,000 by falsely offering rare luxury watches via a staff scheme.
- Soh sent forged documents and fabricated conversations to his victims. He also lied about his mother's health to dupe victims for cash.
- Soh used the money for personal debts, operating a failed Ponzi scheme. The prosecution acknowledged harm to victims and Cortina Watch.
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SINGAPORE – A former watch shop employee was sentenced to 50 months’ jail after cheating 14 victims of nearly $495,000 with offers to help them buy luxury timepieces.
Soh Jian Kun, 33, who worked at Cortina Watch from 2015 to 2025, also lied to some victims that his mother had been hospitalised or had died to dupe them into handing over cash.
Handing down the sentence on Feb 3, District Judge Lau Qiuyu said there was premeditation and elaborate planning behind Soh’s offences and that he committed them for financial gain.
Soh’s mother, who was his bailor, was in court for his sentencing.
On Jan 2, Soh pleaded guilty to four counts of cheating
When Soh received a pay rise around 2017 or 2018, he began splurging on luxury purchases and travel, incurring significant credit card debt, Deputy Public Prosecutor Quek Lu Yi previously told the court.
Though Soh was later enrolled in a debt consolidation plan, he was unable to keep up with it.
Subsequently, he borrowed money from two licensed moneylenders and hatched a plan to deceive the victims, who included his friends.
Soh claimed that he could help the victims obtain multiple timepieces via Cortina’s staff purchase scheme, including Rolex Cosmograph Daytona watches priced at more than $22,000 each, and Patek Philippe watches worth $35,800 each.
Multiple victims transferred money to Soh to secure their purchases.
To convince the victims, he sent them forged forms bearing Cortina Watch’s company stamp, forged receipts and fabricated text conversations between supposed employees and himself.
DPP Quek said: “He intended to operate a Ponzi scheme. He knew that he would have to eventually refund his victims, as there would be no watches to deliver to them.
“He intended to do so by using the amounts he had cheated from subsequent victims to pay the initial victims. However, his scheme failed miserably, as all the sums he cheated went towards paying his credit card debts and licensed moneylenders.”
One of Soh’s victims was a friend he met in national service. The victim had been cheated of the largest amount – more than $180,000 – over 18 occasions between December 2024 and February 2025.
In June 2025, after some of the victims confronted him, Soh finally came clean and was arrested the following month.
The court heard that he has made partial restitution amounting to $13,000 to two of the victims.
Though seven people have made compensation claims against Soh, Judge Lau did not impose a compensation order, as she said that Soh, who is currently unemployed, had no means to pay.
Asking for him to be jailed for up to five years and seven months, DPP Quek said Soh’s actions caused harm not only to his victims, but also to Cortina Watch, which he used as a scapegoat for delays in delivery of the watches or refunds.
Soh was represented by Mr Tay Jing En of Covenant Chambers.
