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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, February 05, 2002

Chief Plotter Involved in Lost Remittance Case Arrested

Progress has recently been made regarding the case that Chinese workers in Singapore were defrauded of a large amount of remittances. Some Chinese workers said they had employed a local lawyer to handle the case, hoping to recover the lost money through the civil procedural methods. It's reported that Lam Chen Fong, sued by the police, is the chief plotter. His grandmother is the other cohort.


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Progress made in the remittance case

Progress has recently been made regarding the case that Chinese workers in Singapore were defrauded of a large amount of remittances. Some Chinese workers said they had employed a local lawyer to handle the case, hoping to recover the lost money through the civil procedural methods.

The workers met with the lawyer on February 1 to discuss the lawsuit process. The lawyer is currently coming into contact with the Singapore Police and the Commercial Affairs Department and trying to collect all necessary materials.

When inquired about the case by the reporter on the night of February 4, Huang Xiaojian, the counselor and consul-general with Chinese Embassy in Singapore, said that she just came back from the Singapore Police, who revealed that 1,100 Chinese workers had reported to the police, but major progress had yet to be made.

Chief plotter arrested

Two partners of the Wen Long Money Changer have been identified. One partner Lam Chen Fong, sued by the police, is the chief plotter. His grandmother is the other cohort.

The Wen Long Money Changer, located at City Plaza in Geylang, was run by Lam Chen Fong and his grandmother for three years. Many Chinese workers used to remit money to their homeland through it. As this Spring Festival is approaching, the Chinese workers, as usual, remitted their hard-earned money through the said Money Changer. However, when some workers turned up to check the remittances after learning that the families had not received the money, they found the shop had been closed on January 26, and then they reported the case to the police. According to the statistics released by the police, S$ 7 million (S$ 1= 4.5 yuan), remitted by the Chinese workers from December 20, 2001 to January 25, 2002 through the Money Changer, was nowhere to be found.

The police immediately arrested Lam Chen Fong after receiving the report and sued him on January 31. He will be on trial this Thursday.

The police also interrogated Lam's grandmother but didn't detain her. The Monetary Authority of Singapore has confiscated the Wen Long Money Changer's S$ 100,000, which was deposited in a bank as the legal cash pledge. The Monetary Authority and the police are currently taking joint actions to confirm the victim list and the sum total of the lost money.



Chinese nationals in Singapore more wary of remitting money

Every Chinese New Year period, tens of millions of dollars gets remitted daily to China.

But this year, many Chinese nationals are more cautious about sending money home, said several remittance agents in Singapore, following the news last week that an agent had misappropriated $7 million.

Wen Long Money Changer at City Plaza in Geylang has been shut down and a partner, Lam Chen Fong, 29, was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly misappropriating about $7 million from more than 1,000 foreign workers. >>details



by PD Online Staff Yang Ruoqian

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