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SINGAPORE – An unemployed woman gave $ 250,000 worth of jewelry to a man who had promised to help her find buyers.
Lim Chiew Guan later told the 55-year-old woman that she had instead used the valuables for an “investment” without her approval.
When she asked for his return, he made up excuses and did not deliver.
On Friday (October 30), Lim, 40, pleaded guilty to one count of dishonest misappropriation of property and criminal breach of trust.
The Singaporean was sentenced to 20 months and a week in jail.
The court heard that no restitution has been made and that the jewelry has not been recovered.
Assistant District Attorney V. Jesudevan said the woman had a diamond ring worth $ 200,000 and a diamond-encrusted bracelet valued at $ 50,000.
The court documents did not mention why he wanted to sell them, but he had asked Lim for help in finding buyers in April 2017.
He told her that he would hand over the proceeds after selling the jewelry.
When they met two months later, Lim told her that she had used the jewelry for an “investment.”
The DPP said: “The complainant expressed surprise that he had never given her any approval to do so. She asked the defendant to return her jewelry. However, the defendant continued to make excuses and did not return (them).”
In November 2017, Lim told the woman that he managed to sell one of the items, but did not give her cash.
He filed a police report on November 20 of that year.
In an unrelated incident, Lim was at the Suntec City Mall at around 10 p.m. on November 15, 2017, when he found a bank card that belonged to a 38-year-old woman.
About 30 minutes later, he found the NRIC of a 21-year-old woman.
Instead of turning them over to the authorities, Lim decided to keep them.
On December 15, 2017, a police officer handled a dispute involving Lim. Details of this dispute were not mentioned in court documents.
The officer searched it and found the two cards in his possession.
For committing criminal breach of trust related to jewelry, Lim could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined.
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