AN ODD-JOB labourer who conspired with four others to cheat a bank in a cashback deal was jailed for seven months yesterday.
Yusoff Ali Saidi Ali, 44, admitted to cheating Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation on Dec 6, 2004, into believing that the intended purchase price for a three-room HDB flat in Circuit Road was $185,000, when it was $160,000. He dishonestly induced the bank to approve a mortgage loan of $141,300 to him and his son, Fazlin, 21.
He was given a concurrent one-month jail term for lying that the transacted resale price of the flat was $185,000 on Dec 14 that year.
A district court heard that in October 2004, he engaged housing agent Yussaini Mohamad, 37, to help him look for a flat to buy in the Circuit Road estate.
After Mr Yussaini found a seller, an option-to-purchase agreement was signed between the sellers, Mr Syed Mohamed Syed Jaafar, 59, and his former wife, Madam Jenab Abdul Latib, 70, and the buyers at the agreed price of $160,000.
Yusoff later told Mr Yussaini that he wanted $25,000 to cover his personal expenses. Under a cashback arrangement, the sellers declare a selling price to the HDB that is higher than the agreed price, so that the buyers would be able to get a larger loan from the bank.
On receiving the bank loan, the sellers would give the difference between the declared selling price and the agreed selling price to the buyers.
The court heard that the two sides signed a second option-to-purchase agreement to reflect the higher selling price of the flat at $185,000.
The offence was uncovered after Mr Syed Mohamed made a police report on June 22 last year, alleging that his housing agent had pocketed his sale proceeds of $22,185.
elena@sph.com.sg
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