Bankrupt property agent admits to faking sales to get advance commissions

LytePay delivered S$91,653 to A1, who deducted her share and transferred about S$83,500 to Cheong.

Cheong used the money to settle his debts.

Six months later, ERA discovered that the purported buyer had not sent the agency their commission for the sale.

It discovered Cheong’s fraudulent actions after an internal investigation and issued him with a warning.

ERA asked A1 and Cheong to repay the full advance commission of S$91,653 that LytePay delivered.

To date, Cheong has paid only about S$10,000 to S$12,000 of this sum and A1 had to bear the remaining amount. She also received a statutory demand from LytePay, which deducted her commission on other sold properties to offset the amount owed. 

A1 has tried asking Cheong to repay her the full amount multiple times, to no avail, the prosecutor said.

THE LUCKY PLAZA PROPERTY

Despite receiving a warning from ERA, Cheong offended again.

In October 2025, he went to the home of a former customer who was then aged 69, named B1 in court documents.

He lied that there was a buyer for a commercial property in Lucky Plaza owned by B1.

He then said he needed B1’s signature to exercise the option to purchase.

B1 signed on some blank documents.

Cheong then deceived his friend, a 63-year-old OrangeTee & Tie real estate agent with prostate cancer, into co-brokering the sale with him.

He said he needed money urgently due to his debts and business losses, and his friend agreed to help, thinking the unit was genuinely being sold.

Cheong forged signatures in some of the required documents and handed them to his friend, who submitted the documents to OrangeTee, requesting an advance commission via LytePay.

LytePay delivered S$7,955 to Cheong’s friend, who gave S$4,700 to Cheong.

Cheong had also deceived his friend into co-brokering a sale of a unit at Prudential Tower in July 2025, once again receiving an advance commission from LytePay.

OrangeTee later sent a letter of reminder to the purported seller of the Prudential Tower unit, saying the company owed OrangeTee about SS$135,300 in agency fees.

A director of the company informed OrangeTee that the company had not, in fact, sold the unit.

OrangeTee conducted internal investigations and discovered the fraudulent transactions done by Cheong for both the Prudential unit and the Lucky Plaza unit.

The company fired Cheong’s friend and made him bear the total amount of advance commission he received from both sales – a sum of about S$86,000.

Those involved lodged police reports in October 2025.

To date, Cheong has made no restitution to OrangeTee, his friend, or to LytePay.

He has been remanded since early April this year.

The prosecutor sought 24.5 to 28 months’ jail, saying that Cheong exploited his own friends who trusted him.

He left them “saddled with substantial financial obligations to LytePay”, obligations which he would have understood as a bankrupt of several years’ standing, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Kelly Ng.

Defence lawyer Riko Isaac from Riko Isaac Legal sought 18.5 to 21.5 months’ jail instead.

He said his client had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and fully cooperated with the authorities.

The case was adjourned to October for sentencing.

For cheating or forgery to commit cheating, he could be jailed for up to 10 years and fined.

For acquiring property that are the benefits of criminal conduct, he could be jailed for up to 10 years, fined up to S$500,000, or