The Straits Times

Car dealer boss jailed seven years for cheating involving almost $Trio.Two million

Sign outside the former office of Cars Today Pte at eighteen Kaki Bukit Road three #02-16. ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN

SINGAPORE – From a Lexus GS300 and a Porsche Boxster to a Geely CK and a Chery QQ, a range of cars paid for by fifty buyers inbetween January two thousand thirteen and February last year were repossessed by finance companies.

Unbeknownst to the buyers, the second-cars had not been registered under their names.

Used-car dealer Cars Today had been running a scam and defaulted on the repayment of loans, which it had taken to buy the cars.

In all, the company cheated seventy one buyers, fourteen sellers and four finance companies out of a total of $Trio.16 million in money and cars.

The buyers and sellers lost at least $1.42 million in total.

On Wednesday (June 15), the company’s de facto boss Poh Chee Tiong, 62, an undischarged bankrupt, was jailed for seven years.

He had earlier pleaded guilty to thirty three out of one hundred sixty eight charges, most of which were for cheating.

He admitted to the remaining one hundred thirty five charges and these were considered in sentencing.

District Judge Salina Ishak, in her brief grounds of decision, said: “(Poh) had caused significant monetary harm and excellent inconvenience to his victims.”

She noted, among other things, there were eighty nine victims in all – buyers, sellers and finance companies – and that the offences were committed over a long period of time.

“(Poh) had planned a systematic and elaborate scam to cheat the customers and creditors of Cars Today; (he) committed the offences for individual benefit as he wished to expand Cars Today’s operation and fleet of cars,” the judge added.

The court heard that Poh was the foot possessor of used-car dealer Car Kingdom inbetween two thousand seven and 2009, but he was bankrupted in 2009.

In July 2011, he told his wifey Liew Foong Lin, 46, to register Cars Today in her name. Poh solely managed the company.

To get loans to buy cars, Poh would come in into flooring agreements with finance companies.

Under each such agreement, Cars Today would transfer the registered ownership of a car it bought to its financier, so that the finance company would have the right to repossess the car, if the dealer defaulted on its loan repayment terms.

When the used-car dealer bought a car on credit, it was supposed to inform the finance company of the price at which it bought the car, and sell the car and repay the loan as soon as possible, lest more interest accrue.

But Poh wished to expand Cars Today’s business and fleet of cars, and also increase its cash flow.

So, unknown to its buyers, it did not transfer the ownership of cars to them after they had paid for and collected the vehicles.

In some cases, Cars Today would buy a car and sell it, and thereafter apply for a loan under a flooring agreement. It would thus get a loan and transfer the car’s ownership to the finance company, instead of the buyer who had already collected it.

Cars Today also forged documents to mark up the purchase price of cars, deceiving its financiers into providing out larger loans as a result.

Poh even roped in his son, Poh Ee, 28, then a manager at Cars Today, to do this. Inbetween December two thousand thirteen and December 2014, Poh Ee made switches to eighteen copies of sales and purchase agreements which sellers had signed, marking up prices at which the cars were bought.

Sellers, meantime, were cheated into delivering their vehicles to Cars Today, thinking the company would lodge their outstanding car loans. But Cars Today did not.

After delivering their cars, some sellers still had to pay road tax and insurance premiums because they were still listed as their cars’ registered owners.

Poh’s wifey and son were fined $Three,000 and $15,000 respectively last month for their crimes. Liew pleaded guilty to one charge of abetting her spouse in managing a company as an undischarged bankrupt, while Poh Ee pleaded guilty to three out of eighteen charges of abetting his father in committing forgery.

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