How one woman scammed her employer to give her his S$3.7M life savings, causing him to suffer a stroke

SINGAPORE: In Singapore news today, a woman made headlines last week after it was reported that she had scammed her employer into giving her millions of dollars by forging multiple emails that she claimed were from government agencies.

Lynne Charlotte James caused the family of her employer to not only lose the entirety of their life savings— around S$3.67 million—but the family has also suffered from a number of health problems in the wake of their loss.

District Judge Shawn Ho called the case a “heartrending” one last week. James, 47, pleaded guilty to five counts of cheating and was given a 12-year jail sentence.

The court heard that James cheated her employer, who has not been identified in news reports, a whopping 2,253 times from May 2008 to October 2017.

Her employer, 69, suffered a stroke due to the stress brought on by James’ scamming. He is also presently a cancer patient. In addition, he and his wife nearly divorced because of what James did.

His wife has had problems with her mental health and was receiving treatment until they could no longer afford it. The couple’s daughter also hurt herself, CNA reported.

They cannot even buy a two-room HDB flat and now reside in a rental unit. Moreover, James has made no restitution to the family.

“The accused’s crimes were extremely heinous and destroyed the lives of the victim and his family members,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Edwin Soh, who had asked for a jail sentence of 12 and a half years.

For each count of cheating, James could have been given a 10-year sentence.

He also noted that James has shown little remorse despite “the immense harm she caused.”

How James carried out her con

In 2006, James began working for her employer’s real estate company. Two years later, facing financial problems, she told her employer she was bankrupt.

“She then lied to the victim by stating that the IPTO (Insolvency and Public Trustee’s Office) had retained funds in her bankruptcy estate and that she required the victim to help her pay various fees to IPTO before IPTO would release the funds to her,” said DPP Soh.

James then went on to ask for more and more money from her boss, telling him she could not pay him back as IPTO still had her funds.

Because he wanted to get the money she borrowed from him, her employer kept giving her more money.

James forged emails from IPTO, the Ministry of Law, the Attorney-General’s Chambers, and even Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon that said she needed to keep paying IPTO fees. If she did not, the money her employer loaned her would not be recovered.

In a span of nine years, the employer sent her S$3,677,537.03 in more than 2,253 transactions. James used this money to repay her own debt and for her personal expenses.

As he ran out of money, James’ employer sold two condominium units and some of their personal possessions and even borrowed S$1.1 million from his niece. It was she who eventually reported the matter to the authorities. /TISG

Read also: Employer asks, “Would you send your maid home for borrowing from an overseas moneylender?”