A freelance IT worker in Singapore used his technical skills for more than managing networks and repairing computer hardware. He launched a series of investment scams designed to attract funds to feed his gambling habit, ultimately deceiving 62 investors into giving him around $361,000. After being busted, he made his first appearance in court this past Monday, admitting to most of the fraud, while leaving several other incidents off the list.
According to Alvin Ker Jia Jun’s plea, he admitted to defrauding 23 victims and pleaded guilty to 40 charges that saw him unlawfully earn around $216,960. Despite not admitting to the full range of illicit activity, the court is still going to consider evidence supporting an additional 94 charges and the remaining $144,960 he pocketed.
Ker launched his extracurricular activities in 2017, using Facebook as his method of communications. Using his own Facebook account, Ker created posts that hyped investment opportunities with attractive returns. Unfortunately, none of the opportunities was legitimate. When he first tasted success with his scam, he continued to launch new ones, ultimately running the illegal operations until 2018.
Each victim handed over anywhere from $144.54 to $28,928, with some of the targets being friends of the 31-year-old freelancer. In addition to giving him money, these (former) friends were also recruited unwittingly into the scheme, posting the investment opportunities on their pages at Ker’s request in order to gain more publicity.
After receiving a large amount of money, Ker would routinely take screenshots of the transfer using his mobile banking app. He would then post these on Facebook as an indication of the return investors could see, driving more innocent people to hand over their money.
The wayward Ker reportedly got hooked on gambling in 2017, leading to his hair-brained scamming plan. He used the money he stole to gamble at Singapore’s two casinos and also to gamble at other venues outside the country.
When investors began to ask for their returns, the fraudster wasn’t able to produce anything. He didn’t just have a gambling habit; he had no skill at gambling and lost all the funds. He would offer excuses regarding why he couldn’t pay the investors at the time, but they finally became impatient and went to the police. As he arrived from a gambling trip to Vietnam on March 5, law enforcement was waiting for him and he was arrested.
Ker will have to wait until October to learn what will happen to him. He will be sentenced sometime that month and will most likely be fined, as well as incarcerated.
