Jail for man who cheated then boss of over $170k, said he could get luxury watches at lower prices
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Gavin Tan Gong Yee pleaded guilty to three counts of cheating involving more than $123,000.
ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
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SINGAPORE – An executive assistant who knew that his boss was a watch collector cheated the woman of more than $170,000 in total after claiming that he could obtain luxury timepieces at lower prices.
Gavin Tan Gong Yee, 30, was sentenced to 2½ years’ jail on Feb 21 after he pleaded guilty to three counts of cheating involving more than $123,000.
Two other charges relating to the remaining amount were taken into consideration during his sentencing.
He has made no restitution.
Tan was facing financial woes when he hatched a plan to cheat his boss, the chief executive of a holding company, in August 2024.
He showed the CEO pictures of Rolex and Patek Philippe watches and lied that he could secure them for her through his spouse at prices lower than the supposed retail prices.
On some occasions, he forwarded the victim purported text messages from a watch dealer to convince her that the deals were authentic.
The CEO then transferred more than $123,000 to him between Aug 26 and 31, 2024, as she wanted to get a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, a Patek Philippe Aquanaut and a Patek Philippe Nautilus.
Court documents did not disclose how his offences came to light, but Tan was charged in court later that year.
On Feb 21, Deputy Public Prosecutor Andrew Chia urged the court to sentence him to up to three years’ jail, adding that he had carried out a “cunning and premeditated scam”.
For each count of cheating, a scammer can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined.
Shaffiq Alkhatib is The Straits Times’ court correspondent, covering mainly criminal cases heard at the State Courts.
