He was promised more if he performed well

He was promised more than $1 million if he allowed a man to burn him with cigarettes and cane him - and he agreed.

But after the session, the 28-year-old Chinese national realised he was burned a second time - when the bank rejected the cash cheque the client had given him.

On May 16, 2014, Singaporean waiter Lim Jit Kiat, posted an advertisement on a classified website, saying he was looking for men between 18 and 45 to work in the entertainment line.

They also had to provide special services to male clients, he added.

The man responded to the ad by adding him on WeChat at 10pm the next day.

The victim cannot be named due to a gag order.

Lim then pretended to be someone known as "Mr Huang" and asked the man to send a photograph of himself.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Zhongshan said that after receiving the victim's photo, Lim claimed he had a rich Korean client who was willing to pay $1.2 million if the victim agreed to be caned and burned by cigarettes.

The victim agreed.

About an hour later, Lim stole his father's POSB cheque book in their flat at Block 54, Sims Drive.

Pretending to be the Korean client, Lim met the man at Geylang around 1.30am the next day and promised to increase the payment if the victim performed well.

They checked into a Hotel 81 branch at Lavender Street and, according to court papers, the Chinese national forked out $75 for a room there.

In the room, Lim used three bamboo canes to hit the victim's buttocks and also burned him with cigarettes.

The man endured the pain and tried to show that he enjoyed the session. Because of this, Lim agreed to increase his payment to $1.36 million.

He took out one of his father's cheques before writing down "$1360000" (sic) in the box and spelt out "One million three hundred thousand".

After signing it, he handed the cheque to the victim and left the room.

Noticing a discrepancy between the two written values, the victim amended the cheque on his own to match the bigger amount.

At about 12.45pm the next day, he went to a POSB branch at Jurong Point and tried to encash it.

But the bank could not process the transaction as the signature Lim had scrawled did not match the one in its records.

Lim's father also did not have enough money in his account for such a large amount to be withdrawn, the court heard.

The police were notified and officers arrested the Chinese national as they suspected him of committing a cheating offence.

The truth soon emerged when he told them the cheque came from Lim.

Lim, now 42, pleaded guilty to one count of forgery.

One count each of cheating the victim and theft will be taken into consideration during sentencing.

Lim will be back in court next Tuesday. For committing forgery, he can be jailed up to 15 years and fined.

ashaffiq@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on May 21, 2016.
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