A Singaporean man says he may lose $157,000 after transferring more than $368,000 to an Indonesian woman for a business venture involving padel equipment.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Shin Min Daily News<\/a>, the man, surnamed Zhou (transliterated), said he met the woman in Batam, Indonesia<\/a>, after a friend introduced them in February 2026.<\/p>\n The Indonesian national, who goes by Mariie, told him she ran a sports equipment business producing padel equipment, yoga<\/a> mats and other products, and asked if he was keen on investing in the business.<\/p>\n According to Zhou, who is in his thirties, she offered an arrangement where he would pay 90 per cent of the production cost in exchange for up to 90 per cent of the eventual sales proceeds.<\/p>\n For instance, if an item cost $10 to produce, he would pay $9. If it was later sold for $30, he would receive $27, leaving him with an $18 profit.<\/p>\n Zhou said Mariie brought him to visit local factories and shops. Additionally, her social media accounts also appeared to have a substantial following, while she claimed to have previously worked as a Pilates instructor in Singapore<\/a>.<\/p>\n Zhou met a woman named Mariie in Batam, Indonesia, through a friend.<\/p>\n PHOTO: SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n These factors reassured him, he said.<\/p>\n Zhou said his initial investments were settled according to his agreement with Mariie and he made a profit.<\/p>\n For one batch, he invested about 877.7 million rupiah (around S$63,000) and eventually received 1.3 billion rupiah (S$93,000) in return.<\/p>\n \u201cThese batches were completely settled according to what was promised, which was why I continued investing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Between February and August, Zhou said he made 84 transfers totalling about $368,000. During that period, however, he received about $211,000 back, leaving him with a potential loss of around $157,000.<\/p>\n He said the more than $368,000 he transferred was meant to cover production costs for 33 orders.<\/p>\n However, 25 of those orders \u2014 which were expected to generate about $394,000 in profit \u2014 remain unfulfilled.<\/p>\n He now fears he may not even recover his original investment.<\/p>\n Zhou said Mariie told him to transfer another 35 million rupiah (about $2,500) to her on Sept 7, saying the money was needed to repay a buyer who had made a police report.<\/p>\n He refused and instead asked for his money back.<\/p>\n Mariie subsequently suggested they travel to Bali together<\/a> to deal with the unfinished orders and arrange for his investment to be returned.<\/p>\n However, Zhou said he has yet to receive any refund and that Mariie stopped responding after Sept 15.<\/p>\n He subsequently made police reports in Singapore and Indonesia.<\/p>\n The Singapore Police Force confirmed that a report had been lodged and investigations are ongoing.<\/p>\n Shin Min\u2019s attempts to contact Mariie were unsuccessful at the time of reporting.<\/p>\n According to Zhou, receipts issued by Mariie did not contain a factory name, signature or contact details.<\/p>\n He also claimed that he repeatedly asked her to provide identification documents, but she gave various reasons for not doing so.<\/p>\n As the number of orders increased, Mariie began missing agreed repayment deadlines, causing Zhou\u2019s suspicions to grow.<\/p>\n \u201cSeveral times, she told me that certain businesses had not paid their outstanding balances,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n However, when he contacted one Pilates studio she had told him about, the business told him it had never placed an order with Mariie.<\/p>\n This made him suspect that he may have fallen victim to a carefully planned scam<\/a>.<\/p>\n Zhou now fears he may not even be able to recover his original investment.<\/p>\n PHOTO: SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n Zhou said he later came across an Indonesian media report about a woman who resembled Mariie and had been involved in another scam.<\/p>\n According to the report he showed Shin Min, the woman had operated a travel agency and was accused of being involved in fake flight and hotel bookings.<\/p>\n Victims allegedly paid for flights and accommodation but did not receive valid bookings, while refunds from airlines were purportedly retained by the woman and used to repay debts and cover personal expenses.<\/p>\n Zhou said he also noted in his police reports his suspicion that Mariie may have been involved in the earlier case.<\/p>\n He stressed that he was sharing his experience not only in the hope of recovering his money, but also to warn other Singaporeans about potential investment scams<\/a>.<\/p>\n Have something to say? Join in!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Explore more on these topics<\/p>\n<\/div>\n See something interesting? Contribute<\/a> your story to us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Early batches turned a profit<\/h2>\n
Asked to transfer money to repay another buyer<\/h2>\n
Receipts provided raised questions<\/h2>\n
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Man suspects woman linked to another case<\/h2>\n
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