Joy Adalia
Falsely believing he owes the Singapore government over $400,000, 70-year-old Tan Soy Kiang spent the last 15 years struggling hard to work on 2 jobs, living as frugally as possible, and borrowing money from neighbors and an elder sister to get by.
It was only just recently that it was discovered he DOES NOT OWE ANY DEBT! It was all just part of an elaborate scam perpetuated by two Singaporean women who knew he was a simple-minded man.
Fifteen years ago, these two women approached Tan, telling him he owes the government a huge sum of money which he should pay off immediately if he does not want to go to prison. Afraid of the consequences if he does not pay up, Tan pleaded for consideration because he does not have that large sum of money.
So, the two women told him he could pay the government, through them of course, every payday. But he should make sure not to fail any payment else he be thrown to jail.
Tan was forced to take on two jobs so he could quickly pay off the debt. Every morning, he works as a street cleaner, earning $1000, and earns another $1000 as pump attendant from 4 PM to 10:30 PM.
Every payday, one or both of the women would come and collect his “payment”. Almost every single penny of his pay went to the repayment of the “debt” he does not really owe.
Living alone and too busy with his two jobs to have time for hanging out with friends, Tan struggled to pay off the debt and no one ever noticed that something was wrong. Some of his co-workers at the gas station have seen him meet up with the ladies every pay day but did not think something was not right and they did not bother ask.
Despite having paid off a huge chunk of the “debt”, the salary from the two jobs was still not enough, so he had to hand over his retirement savings amounting to $53,000.
It was only when niece arrived from Australia that the scam was uncovered. Pamela Lim was in Australia for 15 years. When she went back to Singapore, she was shocked at her uncle’s very poor and pitiful living condition, especially after learning he has to work two jobs.
She would not accept his explanations about having debts from a failed business. She pressed on until the old man finally admitted about paying the “debt” to these two women. For some time now, he realized he might have been conned but had no way out. He does not know who to tell and what he should do.
Lim set up a meeting with the two women who allegedly confessed about their actions. Because the women had also used up the money from her uncle, they settled the case amicably by allowing the women to pay $500 a month [as opposed to her uncle’s $2,000 monthly payment!].
When they went to the police to report the incident, they were told that Tan was a willing party. Lim decided to pursue the matter in court. If they win the case, the women could face up to 10 years in jail and will be ordered to pay a fine.
Ingorance can destroy a person in many ways
@ANDY: You are blessed enough to have that high intellect in you. But with regards to how you stated your opinion, you are no different from these women scammer.
I’m with you Dee. Shame on you Andy!
I agree.. you should pity the old man but the way you stated it, it sounds like you’re mocking him… tsk tsk.
@andy No one likes to be ignorant. So don’t blame his ignorance, because Its not his fault.
yah you should be thankful that you have that intellect but you know what your problem is? ATTITUDE PROBLEM! @ ANDY
Your right…
@andy. well fuck you dude, if you are old enough and you dont even got enough knowledge how can you blame your ignorance? in fact, please make correct spelling in your words, because sometimes ignorant like you wouldn’t understand what you are saying . fuck off dude
@ANDY – Ignorance can be cured…….. But your STUPIDITY is FOREVER!!! 🙂
kitang-kita ang sistema sa singapore. Ang guilty sa pandarambog maliit pa ang binabayad sa niloko. Tulad sa kaso ng turistang bumili ng iphone, sa huli kalahati lang ng binayad nya ang ibinalik sa kanya, wala pa ung celfone. The singapore govt should do something to help this poor man.
i hope you could win the case miss lim! and jail tese two women forever! that evil bitch will go to hell!
“When they went to the police to report the incident, they were told that Tan was a willing party. ”
What kind of stupid shitty fucking statement is this?? There was clearly a ploy to manipulate Tan into believing, resulting to his giving of consent for all the wrong fucking reasons. What fucking retards!! Though the two women will need to undergo due process of the law, if they need the court’s decision to determine what is obvious, they should just fucking rot in hell.
Because my mentally handicapped friend, being a willing party changes everything. A crime can’t be committed if the all parties are willing thats why almost all MLM cases ends with no compensations for the people who were scammed, because they were “a willing party” in that business opportunity.
peste ning mga bayhana., atay!!! mabulok sana kayo sa kulungan!!
Urggg nkkbadtrip mga gntong tao who take advantage of others, what’s more frustrating is if we follow the legal process, the burden of proof would lie dun sa kay lolo, and unless he has enough paperworks or videos proving what has been done to him, mahirap manalo sa case na to.. His niece should’ve talked to him first and planned a setup na mapapapirma nila yung scammers along with videos and even have call recordings ng transaction (and if possible, some marked money) before they reported it to the authority hayyy
I hope these kinds of people, would just disappear, I can believe they would prey even on aged people, no conscience in every way. I pity Mr. Tan so much, I hope he spends the rest of his years happy and healthy, and those women in jail and Pay back Mr. Tan more than he ever gave them, and after paying him back and spending the rest of their lives in jail they can now go to hell 🙂
how could they do such thing to that old weary man?! They should go to hell!
What a heartless bunch of women for scamming good people like that. They have taken 15yrs of his life and they deserve to be put in prison. I hope the poor guy win the case.
This man deserves to be payed more than what he payed to these scumbags it really affected his life and I hope these women get what they deserve for being heartless.
How heart breaking – that poor old man. I hope he wins the court case as that is justice and I hope the woman not only have to give him back every cent but COMPENSATION and do jail time.
How sad, the 2 women not ashamed of what they did.. money is not everything.
but people around you is more valuable than anything.. hope this man get justice for everything.
I pray for you Tan Soy Kiang.
Hope some NGO will help him. I hope I could raise a fund for the old man.. so he will not worry about money anymore, for what to eat everyday and for his comfortable shelter. Hope he could still enjoy and find happiness in his remaining years. When the two sick women gets old they will experience triple than this.
I felt like crying the moment I read this article. I can’t help myself but feel pity with this old man. May he finds justice and happiness that he truly deserves after having experience those hard work paying for something he’s not suppose to pay. Praying for him.
10 years of jail & repaying it wont cover the hard earned money & 15 years of that old man’s life.
Those b*tches should be in jail for a lifetime for what they’ve done to that poor old man.
Praying for Mr. Kiang wins the case
Please let me know these 2 ladies name.
So that when i meet them, i will slap them hardly on their face until nobody ecognize them anymore. Not even by their husbands.
They better return his money!! Fuckin bitches really..instead of him being at home and enjoying his retirement these motherfuckers are taking advantage of this poor old man..I am so angry while reading this,.they better do something about the situation.
+is thier anyway to reach or contact this people? I want to give a little help i can. Just a small financial help. I’m here in toronto canada now. I want to help.
If we can find out, I will help. We need to help him out. They have a go fund me. I will see what I can find out. Let me know what you find out. Thanks!
This breaks my heart
Don’t just put this two women into prison …..IT’S PAYBACK TIME ! let them work for 15long years to pay up the old man what they truly owe him . Make them realize the hardship and struggle the poor old man gone through …. an eye for an eye ! Now ladies , change your clothes and work your way to pay your own debt . Employer anyone ?
Hello, is there any way to contact Pamela? My heart broke reading this. Poor man wasted 15 years of his life working so hard!
So heartbreaking 🙁 he was deprived of his own right to enjoy life. Now this makes me really angry.
those women should DIE ,torture them until they cry and begged for they’re live then then kill them -_-..
I can’t imagine how this uncle can stand up for doing two job at the same time,i might me suffered all the time,.please make those fkng women pay triple!!
this story is so heartbreaking.. Ill pray you will win the case..
Sadly most of the newrevised law always favours the criminals due to Human Rights Issues. If you’re hearthless doing this to an old man, i think her humanity is long gone, even murderer and rapist doing inhuman things means should be treated as not human, in the Philippines. Death penalty is long been demolished, cause the Govt. Now a days are the one who is commiting the crime and not paying the right consequence, stole millions and after proven guilty, hospital arrest with VIP treatment. Hope they also name the two monster who did this, i just hope that person who really cares about this man dont rely on goverment justice, Civilian arrest and execution! Monster to defeat a monster. Not a Law that favors only the one who makes it and broking it at the first place.
If that was my uncle and I found out it was a scam I’d just tell him to move in with me and I’d take care of him, but hey we’re all different …
I hope there will be a follow-up report/article about this. I just can’t sit still without knowing for sure if justice is served. The scammers don’t need negotiation, their pathetic excuse of not having money to pay back the amount they stole is nonsense. The old man didn’t have that type of money too but if he can work two jobs and fork over 2000 per month, then what’s not to say these two women can’t work two jobs and pay 4000 back too? If they get sent to jail, they should still be charged the exact if not more amount they have stolen from him. I hope the court doesn’t fail us this time.
they wasted 15 years of his life, .just kill them already!
Please have a follow up of this. It hurts to just read this. 10 years and a fucking fine? Get those…things to work 20 hours a day of hard work to pay him back. In triple.
Give the women the death sentence!
15 YEARS NA NILOKO YUNG MATANDA PERO 10 YEARS IN PRISON LANG ANG PARUSA? DAPAT 30 YEARS…
this is the only time that I would wish people like this to burn in hell.
I feel pity for all the hardwork this uncle did to pay the scam. Seeing he so thin show how hard his life. Please win in the court and make pay back and give this uncle a good rest.
Those 2 women deserve to be jailed. They wasted this uncle 15 years of time and money.
What the F**K! Damn you People who treat others like that. May God be with you. tsk..
tanjaycity