Woman jailed for cheating her uncle out of over $800,000

A woman cheated her uncle out of more than $800,000 after claiming that she needed the money for so-called "lawyer fees" and "work expenses".

To make her lies more believable, Pricilla Yun Sin Mun also showed him forged documents as well as bogus e-mail correspondence purportedly from important people.

She used names like Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, Minister for Law and Home Affairs K. Shanmugam and Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing.

The 32-year-old Singaporean was sentenced on Monday to 5½ years' jail and a fine of $2,000 after she pleaded guilty to a cheating charge involving more than $500,000.

She also admitted to one count each of forgery and giving false information to a police officer. Two other charges, including a second count of cheating linked to the remaining amount, were considered during sentencing.

The court heard that Pricilla Yun approached her uncle - Mr Yun Hong Sun, 58 - for financial assistance in May 2018. Deputy Public Prosecutor Zhou Yihong said: "She told the complainant that she was facing cash-flow issues associated with her job... and ostensibly needed to pay for upfront expenses for her company's work event in Korea and Malaysia."

Pricilla Yun was working for a hotel at that point.

"The accused claimed that this was on the request of her supervisor 'Lily', and that she wanted to demonstrate her dedication to her job," added the DPP.

Mr Yun transferred $3,000 to his niece's bank account on May 23 that year. From then until October 2019, Pricilla Yun continued asking her uncle for money and spun a web of lies to justify her requests.

Continuing with her deceit, Pricilla Yun lied to her uncle that she needed to pay a lawyer his fees.

She also provided Mr Yun with forged documents and letters as well as false e-mail correspondence from various people including the country's ministers.

Mr Yun finally sensed that something was amiss in October 2019 and decided to personally accompany his niece to a neighbourhood police post so that she could file a report on her purported claims.

Undeterred, Pricilla Yun continued with her lies and gave false information to a police officer.