Man charged for allegedly selling counterfeit watch after claiming to have lost money in casino
A 61-year-old man was charged on Dec 28 with cheating for allegedly selling a counterfeit watch after claiming to have lost money in casino.
The police were alerted on Dec 27 at 11.30am to a case where a woman was allegedly cheated by the man who had approached her and sold her a branded watch at $100 at Choa Chu Kang Avenue 1.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the man would approach individuals in public places, claiming to have lost money at a casino and offered to sell the branded watches between $100 and $300.
It was later discovered that the watches were counterfeits.
Through follow-up investigations, officers from Jurong Police Division and Tanglin Police Division established the identity of the man and arrested him within five hours of the report.
Several watches that were purportedly counterfeited and cash amounting to about $1,340 were seized.
It was earlier reported that a man tried to sell "Omega" watch for $30 at Westgate mall in Jurong East on Dec 19.
He approached a retiree at about 4pm and claimed to have lost his money at a casino, according to Shin Min Daily News.
The retiree said: "He tried to sell to me his Omega watch for $1,500, but when I looked at it, I wasn't convinced."
The man then reduced his asking price to $1,000. The retiree kept repeating that he had no money and the stranger further reduced his asking price to $800, $500 and finally $30.
"Unable to sell the watch, the man finally tried to ask me for $10 for a meal, but I still insisted that I had no money."
The retiree suggested to the man that he should use his "Omega" watch as a collateral for a ticket back to Taiwan, but the man walked away.
The offence of cheating carries an imprisonment term of up to 10 years and a fine.
