Lee Chee Tiong, 41-years-old, pleaded guilty to 3 charges of cheating and was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment on 18 January,
Another 5 more charges were considered for his sentencing.
Lee, a Shopee delivery rider who makes $3,000 per month, was struggling with his bills so he decided to cheat interested tenants by falsely listing his home for rent on Carousell.
He cheated 8 victims who were urgently looking for a place to stay by collecting more than $17,000 from them.
What happened?
Lee listed his home at Bedok North Avenue 2 for rent on Carousell, for $1,550 a month.
A few people responded, with one of them being an Indian national who was living with his wife and daughter, asking to view the unit.
Lee let them view his home before getting him to sign a written rental agreement that he prepared himself.
The victim then transferred $3,000 to Lee on 19 January 2021 for the security deposit was well as the one month rent.
Lee told him that he would submit the details to the Housing Board to process the registration and that it would take 3 working days.
THe victim then checked in with Lee on the registration status repeatedly, but Lee provided him with nothing but excuses and asked for more rental payment in advance.
THe victim eventually asked for a cancellation of the rental agreement and wanted his money back, before reporting the incident to the police.
Lee then made a partial restitution to the victim in December last year and earlier this month, but he didn’t pay back the money to his other victims.
Lee admitted to the police that he never had the intention to rent his flat out, despite listing it for rental on Carousell.