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SINGAPORE \u2013 In a bid to recover a loan of around $25,000, a woman lured her female debtor to a warehouse, where the victim was blindfolded and restrained with plastic cable ties for about five hours.<\/p>\n
The ordeal left the 49-year-old Singaporean victim with marks on her limbs that took two months to fade. She also had facial bruises that took two weeks to clear. <\/p>\n
On Dec 3, her 43-year-old creditor, Lin Mei, was sentenced to 10 months\u2019 jail.<\/p>\n
The Taiwanese woman, who masterminded the crime, had pleaded guilty to one count of wrongfully confining the victim.<\/p>\n
Lin\u2019s accomplice, Chinese national Wu Zhibing, 36, was earlier sentenced to eight months\u2019 jail.<\/p>\n
Deputy Public Prosecutor Darren Sim told the court that the victim and Lin knew each other through illegal gambling activities.<\/p>\n
On Feb 27, 2024, Wu, who was Lin\u2019s housemate at the time, told her that he wanted to return to his home country as his work permit had expired.<\/p>\n
According to court documents, Lin had borrowed an undisclosed amount from Wu. <\/p>\n
The DPP said: \u201cLin informed Wu that someone owed her $25,000 and if he helped her to teach that person a lesson, she would return Wu the money she owed him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taking instructions from Lin, Wu went to a warehouse in Jalan Buroh, near Jurong Port Road, where he covered the CCTV cameras with pieces of cloth.<\/p>\n
At around 2am on Feb 28, 2024, Lin contacted the victim, who then went to her home.<\/p>\n
Lin told the victim that she wanted to go to a golf course, but had to visit the warehouse first.<\/p>\n
At around 3.30am, the two women arrived at the warehouse, which did not have any lights on. <\/p>\n
Lin told the victim that some money was stored in a bag there and asked her to look for it.<\/p>\n
As the warehouse was dark, the victim had to squat and feel her way around, the court heard. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the victim was squatting down, Wu took the victim by surprise and covered her head with a black bag,\u201d DPP Sim said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLin and Wu grabbed the victim by her head, throat and legs and pressed her down to the floor. The victim struggled… but was unable to free herself.\u201d <\/p>\n
Lin and Wu used plastic cable ties to bind the victim\u2019s hands and legs.<\/p>\n
The black bag over her head was later replaced with a blindfold, and she was made to sit on a chair.<\/p>\n
From about 4am, Lin repeatedly asked the victim for money as Wu looked on. <\/p>\n
Lin also asked the woman about the money that the latter had received from selling her home.<\/p>\n
When the victim said she had sold it for $300,000, Lin demanded $200,000 in exchange for her release. <\/p>\n
However, the victim replied that she did not have any money left.<\/p>\n
At around 5am, the victim told Lin to contact a friend who could help her.<\/p>\n
After the friend agreed to give Lin $30,000, Lin and Wu finally cut the cable ties and removed the blindfold at around 9am.<\/p>\n
Before releasing the victim, Lin warned her that if the police were notified, she would \u201cget people to hurt her\u201d, and that the woman would be \u201cas good as dead\u201d. <\/p>\n
Despite these threats, the victim made a police report and the two offenders were arrested later that day.<\/p>\n
Court documents did not disclose if Lin received the money.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n