A customer sold a Qing Dynasty vase in Singapore for a fake painting on Tuesday ( January 28 ) and entered a guilty plea.  ,
Kuok Chio, 42, who owns the business traditional business Foreign Art Centre, pleaded guilty to acquiring the benefits of legal perform, criminal breach of trust and cheating.  ,
Kuok requested that the vase’s user let him send two items from his selection for valuation purposes when he informed the owner that he was traveling to Hong Kong in October 2023.  ,
Kuok had earlier taken a few days to visit the location where the victim kept his ancient collection in order to take pictures of the selection. He claimed at the time that a group of customers was interested in buying products from the defendant’s set.  ,
The victim’s family expressed unease over letting the accused handle the probable price, and the victim informed Kuok that he was not intending to sell his collection.  ,
On Oct 25, 2023, the target agreed to allow Kuok take one dish to Hong Kong to have it valued – a “blue and white garlic-head dish” made during the reign of the Chinese Emperor, who ruled Qing Dynasty China from 1735 to 1796.  ,
The vase was worth at least HK$ 1, 800, 000, or about S$ 315, 280 ( US$ 233, 000 currently ), according to court documents.  ,
Kuok agreed when the victim informed him that he wouldn’t buy the bowl without his permission. Kuok even issued a post-dated payment for S$ 50, 000 from his business profile to the target as security.  ,
At the time Kuok was in arrears of more than S$ 60, 000, and his firm had been affected by the COVID-19 crisis. He made the decision to buy the dish to pay off his bills.  ,
The bowl was offered for sale by Kuok when he got in touch with an ancient trader the same night. Kuok sold the jar to him after receiving payment in cash for it at S$ 150, 000.  ,
He used the funds from one of his two bank accounts to pay off his debts, depositing S$ 120,000 into the other. The remaining S$ 30, 000 remains unknown for.  ,
DAMAGED PAINTING AFTER ONLINE TUTORIAL
Kuok’s deception with the artwork began in June 2021 when he discovered a piece of Chinese calligraphy by Taiwanese designer Lim Tze Peng hanging on a roof in the victim’s residence.  ,
The victim paid S$ 18, 000 to purchase the painting from a dealer. The victim agreed to let Kuok provide the painting to a professional cleaning service after he informed him that the painting had some ink marks.  ,
Kuok reimbursed the sufferer S$ 2,700 for washing and transportation costs, and the victim received the restored artwork in January 2022.  ,
Kuok informed the victim’s business that the painting was inside a light PVC pipe and that Kuok had brought it there. He cautioned the prey against opening the pipe because it contained n gasoline, which would help keep the painting.  ,
The sufferer left the pipe in his company without opening it. When the survivor confronted Kuok about the vase at his place of business about two years later, he noticed a painting with similar spots to Kuok’s.  ,
When he inquired about it, Kuok responded that it was a unique artwork and that the sufferer did not pursue the issue because he was focused on the vase.  ,
When the survivor was moving home and decided to redefine the painting and hang it up, the deception first surfaced in June of that year.  ,
He brought the PVC pipe to a salesperson’s company, who informed him that the artwork in was a phony.  ,
Kuok allegedly unintentionally damaged the artwork by cleaning it on his own after following an online video training to do so.  ,
He poorly prepared the chemical combination for the washing, which smudges some of the ink.  ,
Kuok chose to return a fraudulent painting to him, which was a copy of the original taken before he began the cleansing process because he had no idea how to describe the damage to the complainant.  ,
The defense requested on Tuesday that Kuok’s punishment been postponed and that he need more time to raise the amount needed to pay the target.  ,
The charges for acquiring gains from criminal carry is up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to S$ 500, 000, or both.  ,
For legal breach of trust, Kuok faces up to seven years in jail, a good, or both. For stealing, he could experience up to three years in prison, a great, or both.  ,