Fake HDB officer jailed for cheating residents

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http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Crime/Story/A1Story20120919-372573.html

A 51-year-old man has been sentenced to a jail term of one year and three months on Wednesday for cheating residents a total of $2,930.

Thean Yoon Wee pleaded guilty to posing as an Housing Board officer and cheating 12 residents at Sims Avenue, Bedok, Ubi and Woodlands from March 9 to May 6 last year.

The unemployed man was just released from prison on Dec 10, 2010 and 12 days later, he began his cheating scam.

First, he went to register the HDP Projects company with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority.

Then, Thean printed identification cards with the HDP Projects label, and also included the logos of Housing and Development Board (HDB) and the Building and Construction Authority without permission.

Posing as a HDB employee or a HDB-appointed contractor, he promoted a government initiative to provide fire-proof doors for free.

However, the fire-proof doors required a new gate - which had to be installed at a cost of about $500 that was to be borne by the resident.

He collected the payment from his victims either in full or in the form of a deposit.

This is Thean's third offence. He was jailed on two separate occasions for nine weeks in 2009 and nine months in 2010 for other cheating offences.