Yahoo Finance Man jailed for threatening to expose sexual orientation of male sexual partner
SINGAPORE — He threatened to expose the sexual orientation of a man he slept with if the victim did not hand over $100 to him.
Sim Zhi Gang, 25, also perpetuated numerous scams between 2018 and 2019, and defrauded an insurance company by making a false injury claim.
At the behest of a friend, he also confronted and injured another man who purportedly cheated his friend in a deal.
Sim, who was married last year and whose wife is pregnant, was jailed for nine months and six weeks on Tuesday (5 January), after he pleaded guilty to three counts of cheating, one count of receiving criminal proceeds, one count of causing hurt, and one count of criminal intimidation.
Another eight charges of a similar nature, mainly of cheating, were taken into consideration for his sentencing.
Sim currently works as a Grab Food deliveryman.
The court heard that Sim met the victim he exploited through Instagram some time in March 2018. Around 21 April 2018, Sim went to the victim’s residence and the duo engaged in sexual activities. The victim’s identity is protected under a gag order.
Around two days later, Sim threatened to expose the victim’s sexual orientation by posting screenshots of their conversation on Facebook. He demanded to be paid $100. Alarmed at the threat, the victim caved in and transferred $102 to Sim.
The victim filed a police report the next day. Sim restituted the full sum to the victim on 22 October last year, Deputy Public Prosecutors Koh Mun Keong and Matthew Choo told the court.
In 2018, Sim planned a telco scam in which he deceived victims into signing up for a mobile phone line and providing him with a bundled mobile phone and SIM card.
Sim would then sell off the mobile phone and SIM card, leaving the victims saddled with outstanding phone subscription bills.
To carry out his scam, Sim would post advertisements for “fast cash”and deceive victims into believing that he would pay for any monthly bills and that they would be given a “commission” for signing up for the lines. He met his victims to buy mobile phone lines and the accompanying phones, together with the SIM cards.
The victims of Sim’s telco scam lost a total of $13,004, with no restitution made, said DPP Koh.
Together with two others, Sim also carried out a Carousell ticket scam, where the conspirators would advertise the sale of non-existent entry tickets to Universal Studios Singapore or concerts in Singapore. His accomplice, Koh Jun Xiong, used a bank account to receive the ill-gotten gains. Koh would then offer a commission of the proceeds to Sim in return for his assistance.
Sim obtained a bank account which received $3,762 in monies cheated out of victims of the Carousell scam. He received $50 to $80 in commission for each withdrawal transaction performed for Koh.
Sim knew that Koh, who was dubbed “telco king”, was infamous for being an expert in carrying out scams and knew that he would be helping Koh to launder illegal proceeds.
Koh has since been sentenced to reformative training for a minimum of a year.
Sim carried out the insurance fraud after he was involved in a motor vehicle accident in September 2017. He conspired with two others to make fraudulent insurance claims by seeking medical attention at a hospital.
Sim lied that he suffered from giddiness, neck pain and pain over his shin as a result of the accident to a doctor. He obtained a medical report which he used to put in a $10,285.40 claim against NTUC Income Insurance, which was the insurer of the vehicle that he was in.
NTUC Income Insurance investigated the claim and filed a police report. No payout was made as a result.
While under investigation for his cheating and criminal intimidation offences, Sim got into an altercation and punched a man on his face on 3 March last year.
He was asked by a friend for help in confronting individuals who had allegedly cheated the friend in a deal. Seven individuals rallied and confronted three persons at the void deck of a Tampines block. The group restrained a man while Sim punched him on the face.
His lawyer, Wee Hong Shern, highlighted to the court that Sim was young and remorseful.
Sim, who was married in December last year, wanted to turn over a new leaf for his wife, who is due to deliver on 12 May, according to Wee.
“He tells me he wishes to...be devoted and a responsible husband, and leave all this behind him,” said Wee.
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