SINGAPORE: A woman who conned her boss at a real estate company into giving him S$3.7 million (US$2.8 million) including her life savings, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Wednesday (March 13).
Lynne Charlotte James continuously lied to the victim for nearly a decade, that she was bankrupt and pretended to be a government official in emails to support her lies.
After the 69-year-old man’s victim exhausted his savings, he and his wife sold two condominium units as well as personal possessions to raise funds for James.
When the couple ran out of cash, he was forced to borrow S$1.1 million from his nephew, who eventually reported the case to the authorities.
The couple now cannot even afford a two-bedroom public housing flat and live in a rented house.
James, a 47-year-old Singaporean, was found guilty of five counts of cheating last week. Seven other similar charges were considered for sentencing.
He has not provided any compensation to the victim.
He will begin serving his sentence on April 16 after requesting time to deal with his children and mother’s affairs, and remains free on S$100,000 bail.
He pleaded guilty midway through his trial, which was postponed after he admitted he was suffering from an asthma attack and couldn’t breathe.
THE VICTIM SUFFERED A STROKE
District Judge Shawn Ho told the court on Wednesday it was a “heartbreaking case”.
Due to the pressure of the case, the victim suffered a stroke and almost divorced his wife. He currently has cancer.
His wife’s mental health declined and she sought psychiatric help, but had to stop treatment because they could not afford the costs. Their daughter also injured herself.
The judge noted that James sent hundreds of fake emails to the victim and “composed elaborate lies.”
“You deceived victims 2,253 times over almost 10 years,” he added.
The court previously heard that James began working for an unidentified real estate company around 2006, reporting to the victim.
In 2008, he began experiencing financial difficulties and faced bankruptcy. He hatched a plan to defraud the victim, whose name is listed in court documents.
James told the victim he was bankrupt and lied to him that the Bankruptcy Office and Public Guardian’s Office (IPTO) had withheld funds in his bankruptcy estate.
He asked the victim to help him pay various fees claimed to IPTO so that IPTO could disburse the funds to him.
The man believed James and gave him some money. As time went on, James demanded more cash from her, telling her that he would return all the money she had given him after IPTO released funds from his bankruptcy estate.
The victim believed that he should continue to transfer money to James, as he said that he would not be able to return the money that had been given to him if IPTO did not release the funds, and he wanted to get the large amount of money back.
James also created fictitious emails from government agencies such as IPTO and the Ministry of Law to strengthen his lies.
In the fake email, the government agency purportedly demanded various fees be paid to IPTO.
James also created fake emails from the Attorney General’s Office and judges such as Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon asking him to continue paying fees to IPTO.
He told the victim that if he stopped paying the money, the funds he had deposited would be confiscated and he would not be able to get his money back.
He warned her not to report the matter, saying that IPTO would confiscate her funds if they found out she was helping her and she would not be able to get the money back.
Over a period of more than nine years between May 2008 and October 2017, the victim transferred S$3,677,537.03 to James in 2,253 transactions.
James used the money to pay off his loan from a loan shark and pay off his personal expenses.
