A woman whom former actor Edmund Chen thought had an affinity with his family is said to have cheated him of over $10,000, local media reported on Tuesday (April 11).
In an interview with Shin Min Daily News, the 56-year-old remarked that the incident was “more dramatic than a TV drama.”
Chen shared his story in a Facebook post on Monday (April 10), hoping that it will highlight the potential dangers of meeting people online.
In the post, he said that the woman had approached him on Facebook late last year, claiming to be a fan of his illustrative work.
She asked him to collaborate on an art project involving old carparks and the two met up to observe several carparks. But the project never came to fruition.
The woman – who is older than Chen’s children – also got along well with his family, with Xiang Yun taking her in as a goddaughter.
A month later, she offered to help Chen with the sales and marketing of the third edition of his illustrated book Little Red Dot.
After consulting his family, he agreed to hire the woman for one month.
She first asked for access to his bank records to facilitate the management of his work social media account, then she offered to handle his accounts.
Although the woman appeared to be busy working, she fell short of meeting her sales targets over the two months that they had worked together.
He ended up paying her for months in advance after noticing that she had financial trouble, Lianhe Wanbao reported.
Chen said that his friends had tried to warn him about the woman, but his family felt that she should be given a chance to repent.
Even though she has since left his company, Chen was compelled to share his story after finding out that she had approached his business contacts in his name and that she may be preying on other unsuspecting people.
He also realised that she had spun a web of lies – claiming that she lived in a luxury property in Sentosa and saying her actor ex-boyfriend had attacked Chen’s company online.
minlee@sph.com.sg
