www.shaproperty.com

HE told people he would rent his Ang Mo Kio flat to them and collected money from them.

Then he would tell them he had changed his mind. And he wouldn't return the money.

In less than a month, Leonard Tan Siang Kuan, 31, did this to as many as eight people.

They paid him a total of $9,850 in rental deposits, which he kept.

On 6 Dec, Tan pleaded guilty to three charges of cheating and one charge of failing to report for National Service.

Five other cheating charges will be taken into consideration when Tan is sentenced next Wednesday. The court heard that on 22 Jun, Tan agreed to rent his flat to Ms Pham Thi Minh Nguyet, a Vietnamese, for $650 a month. She paid him $600 as deposit.

On 3 Jul, Tan agreed to rent his flat to Ms New Bee Bee, 29, also for $650 a month. She gave him $2,050 as deposit.

It is not known when the tenants arranged to move into Tan's flat.

On 5 Jul, Tan made a similar deal with Mr Lin Qiuwen, 32, a Chinese national, who paid him $1,000 as deposit.

PROMISED TO RETURN DEPOSITS

On the same day, Tan also agreed to rent his flat to Mr Sujith Nirosh Chaminda Bulathsinhala, who handed over a deposit of $1,000.

On 12 Jul, Tan took a $1,300 deposit from Hong Konger Ng Yuen Man.

A day later, he cheated two more people in the same way. Mr Tay Kwee Chye handed over $1,200, and Mr Aibinu Ajibade Ayodeji $1,300.

Tan then told Mr Lin and Ms Ng that he no longer wanted to rent out his flat and promised to return their deposits. He also gave them post-dated cheques.

But even as Tan was backing out of his deals with some people, he was busy cheating someone else.

On 18 Jul, Tan agreed to rent his flat to Mr Daniel Robert, who then paid him a $1,400 deposit.

Mr Lin made a police report, and so did Ms New, when Tan's cheque could not be cashed.

The court also heard that Tan, a private posted to the Singapore Civil Defence Force headquarters at Paya Lebar for NS on 1 Mar 2000, failed to report for duty on 22 Apr that year.

He remained absent without official leave for more than six years, until he was arrested for the cheating offences on 20 Jul. Tan admitted that he had no intention of ever reporting to the Paya Lebar Camp again.

For being absent without leave, Tan can be jailed up to 10 years.

For cheating he can be jailed up to seven years and fined.