SINGAPORE: In one of the biggest rental scams in Singapore, 68 victims of almost S$ 383, 000 ( US$ 280,00 000 ) were conned using photos he took of units for his job that the former sales executive at a rental company had taken.
Zeng Xianfu Gibson, 29, received a three-year, seven-month prison term for his offences on Wednesday, October 25.
With the addition of another 39 expenses, he had entered a guilty plea to 23 counts of cheating.
Between 2018 and 2020, the jury learned that Zeng worked as a sales executive for Singapore Housing Company, which focused on Singaporean apartment rentals.
He took pictures of models for hire as part of his job and scheduled showings with clients.
Zeng used the pictures he had taken on the Airbnb system after leaving the company, despite not having the power or ability to rent out the advertised apartments.
In order to verify the veracity of the ads, which he put up to defraud others of money, and to create fictitious lease agreements for the victims, the man would give true images of units.
The subjects of Zeng came from various nations, including the US, France, South Africa, Germany, India, China, Portugal, Israel, Denmark, Switzerland, and Singapore.
Following their responses to Zeng’s Airbnb entries in 2022, these patients were scammed of between Entropy$ 7, 000 and S$ 16, 635 in” payments ,” according to court records.
While some of the victims were foreign pupils, others were visitors looking for temporary housing. & nbsp,
One Israeli prey had made arrangements for Zeng to pick her up at Changi International Airport. But when she arrived, he did not appear, provide her with a place to rent, or issue any payment.
Zeng may provide justifications by claiming that the departing landlord had contracted COVID-19 when it was time for the majority of the patients to relocate to their units.
One target consequently reserved a hotel room.
Zeng was initially detained in February 2022 after numerous authorities reports were made against him.
But he persisted in defrauding others even after being released on train parole that day. He was detained once more five months later and charged in judge, but after being released on bail, he continued to reoffend.
In October 2022, his bond was ultimately revoked, and he has since been placed on remand.
With the remaining S$ 353, 000 unaccounted for, he has made a partial return of about S$ 30,000.
Zeng was given at least 47 months in prison by the attorney, who also noted the victims’ pain and anxiety as well as the sizeable sum he had cheated.
According to the attorney,” it bears highlighting that the offenses were committed during a period of intense business competition for rental units due to limited offer and great need.”
” Many of the accused’s patients were foreigners and locals who were looking for a roof over their heads for several reasons, including international students here for research and natives waiting to move into their permanent homes ,” according to the report.
He claimed that Zeng’s use of COVID-19 to delay the victims was” highly opportunistic ,” preying on their anxieties, and leaving them in a state of flux and uncertainty.
The attorney cited Ms. Sun Xueling, the minister of state for house affairs, who stated in Parliament in May that between 2021 and 2022, there were 192 cases of online-facilitated home rental fraud.
The prosecutor also cited a police release from March 2023 that claimed at least 305 persons had been harmed by leased scams in the first half of that year, costing them an estimated S$ 1.7 million in total.
Zeng may have received a fine and up to ten years in prison for each lying cost.