SINGAPORE: People can pretend to be someone they are not for the sake of money. In this case, an Indian man advertised himself to be someone who is a master in astrology and palmistry, tricking a couple and scamming $20,000 from them.
The 58-year-old suspect tricked the couple into believing they were cursed and would be infertile, and he demanded the money from them, promising a blessing ceremony in return. With this, the suspect pleaded guilty to two of four charges and is now sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment.
Case details
According to investigations, the man arrived in Singapore with a plan to scam, exploiting religious beliefs. He pretended to be an Indian astrologer and palm reader master on social media, together with another man whom he claimed to be his son.
In order to get his ‘services,’ the victim will first contact the ‘son’ before they meet up. The suspect would then meet with the victims and claim that they had encountered evil spirits, had negative energy, or were cursed. Later on, he would tell the victims that as long as they gave him money or jewellery, he could perform blessing rituals for them in India.
The suspect would earn his victims’ trust, and they would eventually give in, but the suspect never actually performed any blessing rituals.
In 2024, one of the victims, a married couple, claimed that the suspect declared that they had been cursed and would be childless. The suspect asked for $450 so he could perform a 21-day customised blessing ceremony to cast away the bad luck. The couple then handed over $450 to the suspect and also paid $920 for another blessing ceremony because the suspect also claimed that the husband was cursed.
Furthermore, the suspect told the married couple that a powerful spirit was trying to harm the husband, and it could only be driven away by another personal blessing ritual in India. In exchange, they would need to give gold and $19,000.
In order to gain the couple’s trust, the suspect also showed the couple a false interpretation of the blessing ceremony through made-up photos and videos. Overall, the couple gave the suspect more than $20,000. The couple also entrusted several pieces of gold to the suspect, claiming that he would melt them down and recast them into sculptures so that the couple could throw them into the water. In reality, the suspect simply gave the couple replica sculptures and instructed them to throw them into Bedok Pier.
The suspect hoped that the judge would give him a lenient sentence, given that he had no prior criminal record and that the victims contacted him first. The suspect also fully compensated the victims in 2025, so there was no loss. However, the prosecution stated that the suspect’s decision to make a compensation payment a year after showed that he had not truly repented his actions.
Other related news
In separate news related to religious beliefs, there was a report where a restaurant sought help through social media because a man took the owner’s Earth God and God of Wealth from their shop.
“These two statues were a meaningful gift from my friends for my grand opening in 2019. They have been with me for more than seven years and are very important to me, both emotionally and spiritually,” the post stated.
Read more about the story here.
