Chinese nationals jailed for cheating elderly women

Two Chinese nationals who conned a pair of elderly women out of their life savings with tales of evil spirits and hospitalised children were jailed for a total of more than eight years yesterday.

Li Lianying, 50, and Li Peng, 45, were part of a five-member group which came to Singapore to prey on the old and vulnerable, a court heard. They cheated part-time cleaners Goh Kah Keow, 72, and Chua Peck Har, 66, of around $440,000.

The deputy public prosecutor said the gang spotted Madam Goh alone at a bus stop in East Coast Road in November.

The tricksters had earlier conned Madam Chua out of cash and jewellery totalling $37,550 with a similar scam at People's Park Complex.

The deputy public prosecutor said the two accused had left their two victims "forever scarred" and "penniless".

Li Lianying was jailed for four years and 10 months. Li Peng was jailed for three years and five months.

When Li Lianying said she acted in a moment of folly, District Judge Soh Tze Bian said: "It cannot be a moment of folly...you all came here with the clear intention to commit these offences."

This article by The Straits Times was published in MyPaper, a free, bilingual newspaper published by Singapore Press Holdings.

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