Police nab former car salesman who allegedly cheated customers out of over $100k

SINGAPORE — A man allegedly ran a scam that cheated victims out of more than $100,000, and he was charged with one count of cheating on Saturday (Sept 9).

Edwin Toh Jing Wei, 26, had allegedly tricked a woman on Aug 29 into paying the remaining deposit of almost $30,000 for a Mercedes to his bank account, by falsely claiming that it belonged to his employer, Privilege Motors.

On Thursday, the police received several reports from victims who claimed they had lost more than $108,000 in a scam run by a salesman with a local vehicle dealer.

After negotiating vehicle purchase agreements with the victims, the salesman had allegedly told them to make payments by transferring their money to a bank account that he said belonged to his company.

In a release on Friday, the police said the account actually belonged to the man, and no payments were made to the company.

Police arrested him that day in Jurong West Street 52, less than 12 hours after the first report was made.

Toh has been remanded and his case is expected to be heard again on Sept 15.

If found guilty of cheating, he can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined.

When contacted, a spokesman for Privilege Motors said it has since honoured all the related purchases, even though the money had been allegedly taken by Toh.

The spokesman said that when the company found out about the alleged scam, it immediately made a police report and terminated Toh's employment.

He added: "We also reached out to each affected customer immediately and have delivered the cars. We hope that people will continue to trust Privilege Motors."

ALSO READ: Woman says she lost $67k after car salesman goes missing, dealership lodges police report over ex-employee

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.