Prosecutors seek 12 years’ jail for mastermind behind Keppel Club membership scam

SINGAPORE: The 71-year-old woman behind a multi-million dollar Keppel Club membership scandal has reached a settlement with the club to pay S$3.65 million in restitution. 

Setho Oi Lin, also known as Setho Irene, pleaded guilty last December to 60 out of 3,181 charges of cheating and dishonestly inducing a delivery of property.

In a ruse that lasted for about a decade between June 2004 to August 2014, Setho deceived 1,341 people into paying S$37.5 million for non-existent memberships. She took home at least S$10.5 million from the scam. Her accomplices, club member Ivy Cheo Soh Chin and club supervisor Nah Hak Chuah were sentenced to 4.5 and three years’ jail respectively in January. 

Taking into account the settlement reached last Friday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Hon Yi sought at least 12 years’ imprisonment for Setho’s actions, which he said were difficult to detect and caused a “staggering loss”. Prosecutors had originally asked for a sentence of at least 15 years’ jail.

Mr Hon added that there was a high degree of premeditation, and deliberate steps taken to avoid detection. 

“To prevent detection of her crimes, she orchestrated a methodical scheme to acquire the fruits of her criminal conduct by layering the transactions and engaging the help of a money mule,” he said.

Aside from the 60 charges Setho pleaded guilty to, the 3,121 other charges were also taken into consideration. “The sheer amount of offences taken into consideration warrant a significant uplift in her sentence,” said Mr Hon.

Prosecutors also surmised that Setho could have gained more than the proven S$10.5 million from the scam, but the exact amount cannot be accurately quantified due to the lapse of time.

In mitigation, Setho’s lawyer Mr Philip Fong highlighted her age and ill health. 

According to medical reports, Setho has serious spinal problems and is at high risk of falls. She also suffers from several chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. The medical reports estimated that Setho would have a “zero per cent” chance of surviving a 10-year jail term.

A jail term of more than 10 years would be “crushing”, said Mr Fong, who is seeking a sentence of seven years’ jail, taking into account her health and restitution settlement.

In response, Mr Hon said that the prison authorities had told prosecutors that it would be able to deal with Setho’s medical conditions as they have an assisted living housing unit. Setho can also be referred to a hospital if required, he added. 

The case has been adjourned for sentencing on Mar 26.