Gary Lau a former PRC national, now a Singaporean ran a renovation firm and cheats targeted individuals such as senior citizens. Despite being an non-approved vendor. He lies through his teeth and told the victim that he is approved by HDB.
Out of the 15 people that were targeted by him, at least seven of them are the elderly. In a span of 1 year, he managed to cheat 10 victims.
He would go door to door to conduct ceiling “inspections” on potential victims. He will then tell the victims that he needed to do some work to fix either the walls or ceiling. He will then collect cash payment from the households to do the “job”.
Some of the victims found out that he isn’t an approved HDB vendor and tried to get a refund from him. He then pointed out that the invoice that was issued has a clause that states that the deposits is non-refundable.
One of the victims was an 84-year-old and she handed him $500 to do ceiling works. After the victim’s son found out, he called Lau but ended up receiving vulgarities from Lau.
Lau approached another household but was told by the elderly house owner that he would need to discuss with his son before proceeding with any payments or works. Lau got angry and started swearing and spat at the victim before leaving.
The house owner then chased after Lau, but Lau attacked the elderly house owner and escaped.
He pleaded guilty to four cheating charges, one count each of assault and harassment.
Lau was sentenced on 10 December 2019 to six months’ jail and a fine of $2,400.