Wu Hong, a 41-year-old Chinese woman, was sentenced to 12 years in jail by a Singapore court on Wednesday for defrauding at least five victims of S $2.16 million (11.08 million yuan). Two of the victims were veteran Singaporean actresses Chen Liping and Lin Meijiao.

Between November 2019 and December 2019, Chen Liping and Lin Meijiao lost S $273,000 (RMB1401,090) and S $186,000 (RMB954,589) respectively.

Wu pleaded not guilty to five charges of cheating and was found guilty after a trial.

She also faces another 12 cheating charges, which will be dealt with separately, involving S $3.4 million and multiple victims.

Introduced by the "Feng Shui master" to Wu's friends

According to court documents, Tan and Lin met Wu through their mutual female friend, Su Chunxiang. Su was introduced to Wu by a "feng shui master."

To entice them to invest, Wu claims to offer attractive returns.

Tan Kwong Yang was defrauded of more than S $1.4 million, while Soh Chun Heong, 61, was defrauded of about S $734,000.

Su initially refused to invest because she did not have the money, but Wu persuaded her to enlist friends to invest, according to the report. That's when she approached Chen Liping and Lin Meijiao, who contributed S $273,000 and S $186,000, respectively, to invest with Wu Hong.

The prosecution's allegation is that Wu deceived the victims into believing that she had an investment scheme to provide Chinese nationals coming to Singapore with funds to gamble in local casinos.

Wu convinced his victims with high returns and induced them to "invest" more money into a scheme that did not exist.

Tan and Lam testified in court

During the trial, the prosecution called several victims, including Chen and Lin, to testify against Wu.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Chan Kwok-keung argued in his closing statement that they had no reason to lie in court and that they were well-known media figures who risked unnecessary media exposure.

The defense denied the allegations and offered various reasons, claiming that the victim had provided Wu with a "loan" or that Su Chunxiang was the perpetrator of the scam and Wu was merely a "middleman."

Nearly S $2 million was deposited in the casino

Faced with nearly S $2 million spent in casinos over four years, Ng said she mainly "helped people gamble" and also gambled "(her) own money, but mostly small bets".

Deputy Public Prosecutor Chan Kwok-keung then brought up the casino deposit records and pointed out that 75 per cent of the amount lost by Soh and her friend was deposited into Wu's casino account.

At the end of the trial, the magistrate found Wu guilty of five counts of cheating.

12 to 13 years in prison

After conviction, the prosecution called for a jail term of 12 to 13 years for Wu, calling her a "ruthless liar" who cultivated and exploited the trust of her victims through premeditated and sustained deception.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Chan Kwok-keung said she committed the plot out of pure greed and self-interest, showing a complete lack of remorse and instead making various heinous accusations against the victim during the trial.

Ms. Lin declined to be interviewed, but said through her agent that she understood the concerns and wanted to move on, Lianhe Zaobao reported.