(世界新聞)：Man cheated 62 victims from over 10 countries of $383k in one of S’pore’s largest ever rental scams

在新加坡有史以來最大的租屋詐騙案中，共有超過10個國家來的62位受害者被騙。一共損失達到38.3萬新加坡幣

來源：Samuel Devaraj, The Straits Times, 27 JUN 2023,  原文網址

A French exchange student looking for a place to stay in Singapore contacted Gibson Zeng Xianfu after seeing his rental listing on Airbnb.

一個法國的交換學生為了要在新加坡覓得一個棲身之處，在看了Airbnb的租屋廣告後，找上了吉布森鄭祥福。

The student paid $9,000 to secure the unit but before the agreed move-in date, Zeng, 29, claimed it was unavailable and offered another date or a refund.

他花了9000新幣定下一間房子，但在預計搬家的日期間，29歲的鄭嫌聲稱這間房子還不能入住，他提供了重定日期與退款兩種方法。

The victim received neither and after arriving here without a place to stay, had to look for alternative accommodation.

受害者兩個都不接受，然後當天到了現場沒地方住，只好另尋其他住處。

He was one of 62 victims from at least 12 countries, including Singapore, who were scammed of nearly $383,000 by Zeng in one of the largest rental scams here, said the prosecution.

他是從至少來自12個國家的62名受害者之一，其中還包含新加坡本地人。檢方表示在這一件本地最大的租屋詐騙案中鄭嫌詐欺了約38.3萬新幣。

Zeng even had the audacity to cheat some victims after being arrested and while out on bail twice.

鄭嫌膽大包天到被捕後、兩度交保期間，都還在繼續詐騙某些受害者。

On Tuesday, Zeng pleaded guilty to 23 charges of cheating, with 39 similar charges taken into consideration.

禮拜二的時候，鄭嫌認了23條詐欺指控、還有39條類似罪名等著列上去。

Deputy Public Prosecutor Wong Shiau Yin said between 2018 and 2020 Zeng was a sales executive at Singapore Housing Company, a company specialising in the rental of units. His job scope involved taking photos of units for rental and arranging for viewings with clients.

公訴檢察官黃曉盈說在2018年至2020年間，鄭嫌在新加坡住房公司擔任營業員，該公司的業務就是房屋租賃。他的業務範圍包含為租賃物件拍照、還有安排客戶帶看。

After leaving his job, Zeng uploaded some of these photos on the Airbnb platform, despite not having the authority or ability to rent out the advertised apartments.

在離職之後，鄭嫌上傳了一些房屋物件的照片到Airbnb上廣告，但其實他根本無權把這些公寓租出去。

Details of these units were redacted from court documents.

這些房屋物件的細節在法庭文件中被隱去。

He added a veneer of legitimacy to his scheme by preparing bogus tenancy agreements for his victims, said DPP Wong.

檢察官黃曉盈說：為了要掩飾他的騙局，他還提供假造的租賃契約以取信於他的受害者。
 

註釋：

audacity: 大膽、勇氣 

veneer: 虛飾、掩飾

bogus: 假的

tenancy agreement: 租賃契約