To pay hospital bill, woman asks friend to return $30,000 owed and he replies: ‘My problem?’

She said she took out $50,000, handed $25,000 to Ray and kept remaining $25,000 for her own expenses. She later transferred another $5,000 to his bank account, bringing the total to $30,000.

A week later, Chen said she found out Ray had backed out of the restaurant investment.

“When I asked for the $10,000 meant for the investment to be returned, he claimed it was considered repayment,” said Chen, who added that over time, he was unable to provide proof that the money had been used for his daughter or debts as claimed.

“I told him nicely that I needed him to transfer the full sum back to me since I found everything was a lie. But he never wanted to do so and said there was nothing left,” she said.

‘You go hospital my problem?’

Then in February, Chen suffered a head injury during a fall in Bangkok and was hospitalised for five days, incurring about $27,000 in medical bills.

When she turned to Ray for help, she said he replied: “You go hospital my problem?”

“I was so angry with him. I repeatedly demand for the full sum of money because now I needed it for my medical bills. But he told me that he had other people to pay too,”she said.

Chen said she had to use her reserve funds to pay the hospital bill. Ray also stopped responding to her messages.

“Now because things got very nasty after how I was treated by him when I was in hospital, no matter how many times I messaged him, he wouldn’t reply.”

Chen made a police report on March 13.

In response to a Stomp query, the police confirmed a report was lodged.

‘You cannot blame anyone’

On March 29, the Stomper went to Ray’s flat in Macpherson but was only able to speak to his father after waiting six hours.

She claimed his father told her: “If you want to go to the police, just go.”

“He said he used to work as a loan shark when he was young. So going to the police was nothing,” she added.

“I cried and knelt down to beg his father to ask Ray to return the money.”

Chen told the father she desperately needed the money to survive and asked the older man if he could transfer any amount to her, but he said neither he nor his son had money.

She said the father also told her: “You are the one who was willing to loan Ray the money. So you cannot blame anyone.”

Chen said she is now facing serious financial difficulties.

“I am sharing this not to attack, but to seek advice and awareness,” she explained.

“If anyone has been in a similar situation or knows what actions I can take to recover the money, I would appreciate your guidance.”

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