S’porean man invests $368k in sports business with woman he met in Batam, now fears losing $157k
A Singaporean man says he may lose $157,000 after transferring more than $368,000 to an Indonesian woman for a business venture involving padel equipment.
Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, the man, surnamed Zhou (transliterated), said he met the woman in Batam, Indonesia, after a friend introduced them in February 2026.
The Indonesian national, who goes by Mariie, told him she ran a sports equipment business producing padel equipment, yoga mats and other products, and asked if he was keen on investing in the business.
According to Zhou, who is in his thirties, she offered an arrangement where he would pay 90 per cent of the production cost in exchange for up to 90 per cent of the eventual sales proceeds.
For instance, if an item cost $10 to produce, he would pay $9. If it was later sold for $30, he would receive $27, leaving him with an $18 profit.
Zhou said Mariie brought him to visit local factories and shops. Additionally, her social media accounts also appeared to have a substantial following, while she claimed to have previously worked as a Pilates instructor in Singapore.
These factors reassured him, he said.
Early batches turned a profit
Zhou said his initial investments were settled according to his agreement with Mariie and he made a profit.
For one batch, he invested about 877.7 million rupiah (around S$63,000) and eventually received 1.3 billion rupiah (S$93,000) in return.
“These batches were completely settled according to what was promised, which was why I continued investing,” he said.
Between February and August, Zhou said he made 84 transfers totalling about $368,000. During that period, however, he received about $211,000 back, leaving him with a potential loss of around $157,000.
He said the more than $368,000 he transferred was meant to cover production costs for 33 orders.
However, 25 of those orders — which were expected to generate about $394,000 in profit — remain unfulfilled.
He now fears he may not even recover his original investment.
Asked to transfer money to repay another buyer
Zhou said Mariie told him to transfer another 35 million rupiah (about $2,500) to her on Sept 7, saying the money was needed to repay a buyer who had made a police report.
He refused and instead asked for his money back.
Mariie subsequently suggested they travel to Bali together to deal with the unfinished orders and arrange for his investment to be returned.
However, Zhou said he has yet to receive any refund and that Mariie stopped responding after Sept 15.
He subsequently made police reports in Singapore and Indonesia.
The Singapore Police Force confirmed that a report had been lodged and investigations are ongoing.
Shin Min’s attempts to contact Mariie were unsuccessful at the time of reporting.
Receipts provided raised questions
According to Zhou, receipts issued by Mariie did not contain a factory name, signature or contact details.
He also claimed that he repeatedly asked her to provide identification documents, but she gave various reasons for not doing so.
As the number of orders increased, Mariie began missing agreed repayment deadlines, causing Zhou’s suspicions to grow.
“Several times, she told me that certain businesses had not paid their outstanding balances,” he said.
However, when he contacted one Pilates studio she had told him about, the business told him it had never placed an order with Mariie.
This made him suspect that he may have fallen victim to a carefully planned scam.
Man suspects woman linked to another case
Zhou said he later came across an Indonesian media report about a woman who resembled Mariie and had been involved in another scam.
According to the report he showed Shin Min, the woman had operated a travel agency and was accused of being involved in fake flight and hotel bookings.
Victims allegedly paid for flights and accommodation but did not receive valid bookings, while refunds from airlines were purportedly retained by the woman and used to repay debts and cover personal expenses.
Zhou said he also noted in his police reports his suspicion that Mariie may have been involved in the earlier case.
He stressed that he was sharing his experience not only in the hope of recovering his money, but also to warn other Singaporeans about potential investment scams.
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