Foreigner forged MOM letters, cheated maid of over $2k with promise of S'pore jobs for her relatives
The court heard that Indian national Charanjeet Singh and the victim, a 29-year-old Indian domestic worker, met in October 2024 at a temple in Singapore.
SINGAPORE – Tricking a domestic worker into thinking he could help her relatives secure jobs in Singapore, a foreigner swindled her of more than $2,000 to pay for their purported work pass applications.
To keep up the ruse, Indian national Charanjeet Singh even sent the victim forged Ministry of Manpower (MOM) documents.
On July 29, Singh, 20, was sentenced to 13 weeks' jail after pleading guilty to a cheating offence and two charges of using a forged document. Three other charges were taken into consideration for his sentence.
The court heard that Singh and the victim, a 29-year-old Indian domestic worker, met in October 2024 at a temple in Singapore.
Singh told her he had been working in Singapore for several years and offered to help her land a job with his employer, a cleaning services company.
In reality, that was his former co-tenant's company. Singh was unemployed and staying in Singapore on a special pass after his employment with another firm had been terminated over salary disputes.
As the victim had one year remaining on her employment contract as a domestic worker, she asked if Singh could arrange for jobs in Singapore for her relatives in India instead.
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Singh agreed and requested 250,000 Indian rupees (S$3,700) for each applicant, adding that the purported jobs involved packing and cleaning.
To assure the victim, he sent video recordings purportedly showing himself at work and the accommodation provided by the company.
The victim then asked Singh to proceed with job applications for three of her relatives, and paid him $2,135 between Nov 17 and Dec 1, 2024.
Singh sent the victim several forged letters from MOM over the next two months, including supposed in-principle approvals for her relatives' work permits.
He did so by altering an original document he had obtained from his former co-tenant without the latter's knowledge or consent.
The victim then asked her employer for help to verify one of the applications on MOM's website.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Maximilian Chew said: 'When the victim discovered that there was no such application and asked the accused about it, the accused lied to the victim that the approval was not shown on the website as full payment had not been made.
'The accused assured the victim that he would give her a password to access the information on MOM's website after full payment was made.'
After the victim made full payment to Singh, he became uncontactable. She lodged a police report on Dec 26, 2024, and Singh was arrested on April 24.
DPP Chew noted that Singh 'spun a web of lies' over two months to cheat the victim and asked for him to be jailed for 14 weeks.
Handing down the sentence, District Judge Koh Jiaying said the victim is a foreign domestic worker who would have been more impacted by the loss of money.
The judge also said his act of forging MOM documents could erode public trust in the government.
Singh said through an interpreter during his mitigation that he felt sorry for what he did.
The foreigner, who did not have a lawyer, said: 'I've done a crime and I hope to be punished... only by being punished will I understand the consequences of my actions.'
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