SINGAPORE – A woman accused of cheating a cancer-stricken man of more than $24,000 was granted a discharge after she repaid him in full and was given a two-year conditional warning by the authorities.
Ms Ong Maie Ling, 62, had been handed four charges in October 2023 for allegedly cheating the man in 2020.
After she made full restitution on Feb 15 and received the warning, the prosecution applied for a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNATA) in relation to her charges, which the court granted on Feb 29.
The DNATA means she can still be prosecuted for the crimes if relevant information or evidence were to emerge later.
The Attorney-General’s Chambers did not reveal the conditions of the warning in its March 13 statement to The Straits Times.
Ms Ong had allegedly told the man – who had duodenal cancer, which affects the small intestine – that she could help him get injections, among other things, that would help his condition.
On Feb 17, 2020, she purportedly cheated the man of $5,500 after claiming that she could help him buy three such injections.
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She also allegedly duped him into handing over $10,000 in cash that day after claiming that she could arrange for a local laboratory testing. She was then said to have lied to him by stating that this purported local laboratory accepted payments only in United States dollars.
Ms Ong purportedly cheated the man of another $4,553.66 that same day.
On March 17, 2020, she allegedly told him that a medical specialist in the US required purchases of two iPhones for an “analysis” to be done, and purportedly cheated the man of $4,200.
For each count of cheating, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined.
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