SINGAPORE: Three men who used fake gold ingots to cheat a woman of S$4,000 (US$3,070) were sentenced to six months of jail on Wednesday (Oct 9).

The men - Wen Yanchun, 52, Zhu Xiaoyuan, 51 and Kang Shouming, 62 - had deceived the victim into believing that they had discovered genuine gold ingots while performing excavation works in Singapore.

Wen and Zhu approached the victim on Jun 19, presenting her with gold-coloured ingots and claiming that they were found at a construction site.

To trick the victim, the men produced a document with old Chinese writings, resembling an old will, which they had prepared. Wen and Zhu then sought the victim’s help to verify the worth of the ingots.

The victim accompanied the men to conduct authentication checks with a goldsmith shop along Eu Tong Sen Street.

She was given a real gold piece to authenticate, rather than one of the fake gold-coloured ingots. The real gold piece was from a bracelet that belonged to Wen's wife.

The men said they did not want to present the ingots to the shop staff in order to avoid raising suspicion, and that the real gold piece was cut from one of the ingots. 

Staff at the goldsmith shop authenticated the real gold piece and told the victim that it was worth about S$450.

Wen and Zhu then agreed with the victim that she would help them safekeep some of the fake ingots in exchange for cash as collateral.

She handed over S$4,000 in cash to the men in exchange for 30 gold-coloured ingots, the police said in a news release.

The victim realised that she had been scammed when she went back to the goldsmith to authenticate the gold-coloured ingots, but was informed that they were fake. She alerted the police.

Wen and Zhu were arrested on Jun 20. The police also traced and arrested Kang and seized over 80 pieces of gold-coloured ingots, 6 gold-coloured mini Buddha statues, and the faked document that resembled an old will.

The police advised members of the public to avoid such scams by being wary of offers that "sound too good to be true" and by enlisting professional assistance before buying high-value items. 

"The police has zero tolerance against such acts of deliberated crime and will spare no effort to apprehend such offenders," the police said.

"Perpetrators will be dealt with sternly in accordance with the law."winner777

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