Jail for woman who confined and restrained debtor with cable ties for about 5 hours

SINGAPORE – In a bid to recover a loan of around $25,000, a woman lured her female debtor to a warehouse, where the victim was blindfolded and restrained with plastic cable ties for about five hours.

The ordeal left the 49-year-old Singaporean victim with marks on her limbs that took two months to fade. She also had facial bruises that took two weeks to clear.

On Dec 3, her 43-year-old creditor, Lin Mei, was sentenced to 10 months’ jail.

The Taiwanese woman, who masterminded the crime, had pleaded guilty to one count of wrongfully confining the victim.

Lin’s accomplice, Chinese national Wu Zhibing, 36, was earlier sentenced to eight months’ jail.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Darren Sim told the court that the victim and Lin knew each other through illegal gambling activities.

On Feb 27, 2024, Wu, who was Lin’s housemate at the time, told her that he wanted to return to his home country as his work permit had expired.

According to court documents, Lin had borrowed an undisclosed amount from Wu.

The DPP said: “Lin informed Wu that someone owed her $25,000 and if he helped her to teach that person a lesson, she would return Wu the money she owed him.”

Taking instructions from Lin, Wu went to a warehouse in Jalan Buroh, near Jurong Port Road, where he covered the CCTV cameras with pieces of cloth.

At around 2am on Feb 28, 2024, Lin contacted the victim, who then went to her home.

Lin told the victim that she wanted to go to a golf course, but had to visit the warehouse first.

At around 3.30am, the two women arrived at the warehouse, which did not have any lights on.

Lin told the victim that some money was stored in a bag there and asked her to look for it.

As the warehouse was dark, the victim had to squat and feel her way around, the court heard.

“While the victim was squatting down, Wu took the victim by surprise and covered her head with a black bag,” DPP Sim said.

“Lin and Wu grabbed the victim by her head, throat and legs and pressed her down to the floor. The victim struggled... but was unable to free herself.”

Lin and Wu used plastic cable ties to bind the victim’s hands and legs.

The black bag over her head was later replaced with a blindfold, and she was made to sit on a chair.

From about 4am, Lin repeatedly asked the victim for money as Wu looked on.

Lin also asked the woman about the money that the latter had received from selling her home.

When the victim said she had sold it for $300,000, Lin demanded $200,000 in exchange for her release.

However, the victim replied that she did not have any money left.

At around 5am, the victim told Lin to contact a friend who could help her.

After the friend agreed to give Lin $30,000, Lin and Wu finally cut the cable ties and removed the blindfold at around 9am.

Before releasing the victim, Lin warned her that if the police were notified, she would “get people to hurt her”, and that the woman would be “as good as dead”.

Despite these threats, the victim made a police report and the two offenders were arrested later that day.

Court documents did not disclose if Lin received the money.