SINGAPORE: Three women and a man were charged on Friday (Jun 6) for their purported roles in a scam that involved at least one victim surrendering her belongings for religious blessings. 

The man is Huang Ximing, 61, and the women are Zhong Weifeng, 58, Huang Qinyan, 47, and Huang Meiling, 56. All four are Chinese nationals. 

Each was handed two charges of cheating in a conspiracy. 

In a press release on Friday, the police said that they received a report on Jun 3 from a victim who was allegedly cheated by three women in Chinatown. Charge sheets provided more details on how this occurred. 

Huang Meiling had initially approached the alleged victim seeking directions to a Chinese physician, when Zhong intervened and claimed that she knew of one.

Zhong added that consultations could only occur outside the premises due to overcrowding and wanted the victim to pose as her relative.

She then led them to Huang Qinyan, who claimed to be the physician, the police said. The victim was then told that she was "experiencing misfortune due to negative spiritual elements".

The police added that the three women and the victim then arranged to meet at Hong Lim Park, where they convinced the victim to surrender S$700 (US$544) in cash and a gold necklace with a "Guan Yin" pendant to the "Chinese physician". 

Huang Qinyan, who was posing as the physician, then placed the items in a black plastic bag and performed an alleged blessing ritual, said the police. 

The victim was instructed to store the plastic bag underneath her bed, unopened, for one month. The next morning, when the victim examined the contents of the plastic bag, she discovered that her valuables had been replaced with leaves. 

The police said they received another report of a similar scam in the Clementi area on Jun 4. 

In this incident, two women approached another victim and engaged her in conversation.

After noticing cash in the victim's bag, they convinced her to place her valuables into a black trash bag for "safekeeping", said the police. The victim later discovered that her money was missing.

Charges state that on Jun 3, 2025, at about 3pm, in the vicinity of Commonwealth Avenue West, the four engaged in a conspiracy to cheat the victim by deceiving her into believing that they had better equipment and techniques to s...