A 60-year-old man faked a winning horse race ticket and stole over CNY2,000 from his friend

A 60-year-old man tricked his friend by faking a winning horse racing ticket and lying that he had seven lottery tickets to sell at a cheap price. The victim believed him and paid CNY2,525 (S$479.75), but only got CNY132 back in the end. 

The accused was charged with eight offences, which include fraud and breaking traffic laws such as the Road Traffic Act and violations of the Vehicle (Third Party Risk and Compensation) Act. He pleaded guilty to four of the charges, and the judge considered the others and sentenced him to 11 weeks in prison and a S$600 fine. Furthermore, he will not be allowed to get any type of driving licence for two years after he finishes his prison sentence. 

The details of the incident

The case file stated that the man met his friend in February last year, when he told him that he had seven winning horse racing tickets. The man made six fake tickets by cutting out dates and numbers from old lottery tickets and pasting them onto other tickets to make them look realistic. He then persuaded his friend to buy these tickets at a lower price. The friend estimated that the prize money would amount to between CNY2,000 and CNY3,000, so he agreed and paid CNY2,525. 

The next day, after paying the amount, the friend tried to claim the prize and found out that six of the tickets were fake and only one was valid. In the end, he only received CNY132 as prize money,

After the incident was exposed, the accused returned an estimated amount of CNY1,000 to his friend and apologised to the judge during his plea. He begged for leniency, stating that his wife and children were waiting for him at home. He also declared that he regretted his wrongdoing and promised not to commit another crime.  Since the defendant is unable to pay the fine, he will serve three days in jail.