A former employee of the now-defunct Sim Lim Square electronics shop Gadget Terminal was sentenced to 28 weeks’ jail on Tuesday (Jan 5) for cheating two customers in September and October 2014.
Justin Chew Chee Kin, 36, admitted to conspiring with the boss of Gadget Terminal, Gavin Chung Choon Cheik, 33, to cheat the shop’s customers. Chew was employed as a sales executive and earned S$1,800 a month, plus a commission on profits made by Gadget Terminal.
Chung Choong Cheik, former general manager at Gadget Terminal. (Photo: Ngau Kai Yan)
Chew worked under Chung’s instructions to offer mobile devices to customers at an attractive price, before confronting them with various sales tactics after the customer made payment.
On Sep 30, 2014, customer service officer Zhang Zhengqiang called the police after Chew demanded an additional S$480, on top of the S$300 that Chew had already collected from Mr Zhang for an iPhone 4S. When Mr Zhang refused to hand over more money, Chew threatened to complain to Mr Zhang’s employer. Despite the police’s involvement, Chew returned Mr Zhang just S$12, citing a “cancellation fee”.
Chew cheated a second victim, student Gao Erxu, about one month later on Oct 20, 2014. Mr Gao’s girlfriend called the police after the couple paid Chew with a S$1,000 note and he refused to return them S$620 in change. Again, despite the police’s involvement, Mr Gao lost S$215 in “cancellation fees”.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhammad Faizal Nooraznan pointed to the vulnerability of the two victims as an aggravating factor in the case. Both Mr Zhang and Mr Gao are Chinese nationals, and Mr Zhang has “limited English proficiency”, the court heard. The victims were “exploited and cheated” and Chew “unmoved by police presence”, said the DPP.
As Chew presented the matter to police as a “contractual dispute”, it was difficult for police to know that any illegality was involved, the DPP said.
DPP Muhammad Faizal cited the prevalence of this kind of offences in recent times as well. Over the past three years, the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) received 2,000 complaints against retailers in Sim Lim Square, Lucky Plaza and People’s Park Centre.
The DPP also referred to past cases of cheating salesmen at Sim Lim Square. Jover Chew, the former boss of the now-defunct Mobile Air, and four employees were sentenced to jail last year for employing a similar modus operandi to cheat several customers of thousands of dollars.
Chung and three other former salesmen have also been charged with cheating offences. Their cases are still before the courts.
For each charge of cheating, Chew could have faced up to 10 years’ jail and a fine.
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com
