Man in Singapore admits to cheating 14 victims of nearly S$495,000 after offering to help buy luxury watches

SINGAPORE: Saddled by debts, a watch shop employee cheated 14 victims, including his friends and former customers, of nearly S$495,000 in total after offering to help acquire rare luxury timepieces.

Soh Jian Kun, who worked at Cortina Watch from 2015 to 2025, had claimed that he could help obtain multiple timepieces including Rolex Cosmograph Daytona watches priced at over $22,000 each, and Patek Philippe watches worth $35,800 each.

In reality, he had no intention of helping the victims and instead used his ill-gotten gains to pay his debts.

On Friday (Jan 2), the 33-year-old, who made partial restitution totalling $13,000 to two of the victims, pleaded guilty to four counts of cheating involving nearly $306,000.

Another 13 charges relating to the remaining amount will be considered during his sentencing on Feb 3.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Quek Lu Yi told the court that Soh was working for Cortina Watch when his salary increased to an undisclosed amount around 2017 or 2018.

He began applying for credit cards and, at one point, had about seven of them.

He then started splurging on luxury purchases and travels, incurring significant credit card debt.

After approaching non-profit social service agency Credit Counselling Singapore for help, he was enrolled in a debt consolidation plan, but was unable to keep up with it.

Soh then borrowed money from two licensed moneylenders, and hatched a plan to deceive the victims.

DPP Quek said: “He knew that these victims trusted him by virtue of their relationship with him, and as he was a long-time employee of Cortina Watch.

“He knew that there was a staff purchase scheme in which staff…(could buy) watches which were hard to obtain…for themselves or their next-of-kin.”

Court documents stated that staff members intending to utilise the scheme would have to fill up a hard copy form with details such as the watch model, quantity and its price.

Soh felt that Cortina Watches did not closely scrutinise the purpose of the purchase under the scheme, and thought that he could exploit this “loophole”.

He also knew that such watches would typically carry a high resale value, said the DPP.

Multiple victims later transferred money to Soh to secure their purchases.

In order to convince them, he sent them forged forms bearing Cortina Watch’s company stamp and forged receipts.

He even used various phone numbers to pose as his colleagues and fabricated text conversations between the supposed staff members and himself.

He then sent screenshots of these “conversations” to the victims to perpetuate his deception.

To avoid raising suspicion, he used the names of actual Cortina Watch employees so that the victims would not detect that the conversations were false.

DPP Quek said: “He intended to operate a Ponzi scheme. He knew that he would have to eventually refund his victims, as there would be no watches to deliver to them.

“He intended to do so by using the amounts he had cheated from subsequent victims to pay the initial victims. However, his scheme failed miserably, as all the sums he cheated went towards paying his credit card debts and licensed moneylenders.”

Soh even told three of his victims that his mother was in hospital or had died to dupe them of cash, the court heard.

He cheated one of his friends of the largest amount of money – more than $180,000 – over 18 occasions between December 2024 and February 2025.

The prosecutor said that Soh got to know the man through national service.

On Dec 27, 2024, he told the victim that he had a “quota” for the purchase of luxury watches through the staff purchase scheme.

He then asked the man if he or his friends would be interested in buying watches from him.

The DPP said that Soh claimed that he could help the victim purchase seven watches priced at $189,700 in total – three Rolex Cosmograph Daytona watches at $22,100 each; one Rolex GMT-Master II at $16,000 and three Patek Philippe watches at $35,800 each.

The friend was duped into transferring more than $180,000 to Soh, who has made no restitution to him.

Using this method, Soh committed other similar offences before some of the victims confronted him.

In June 2025, he finally came clean about what he had done, and was arrested the following month.

On Jan 2, the DPP urged the court to sentence him to up to five years and seven months’ jail.

“His actions caused harm not only to his victims, but also to Cortina Watch, which he used as a scapegoat for delays in delivery of the watches or refunds.” – The Straits Times/ANN