At least two more eateries – a nasi lemak shop and a bakery – have fallen prey to fake bulk orders, taking the total number of reported cases in about a week to five.
Mr Chee Hang Joon, the boss of Sedap! restaurant in Novena, told The Straits Times on Sept 15 that a “Luke Wong” who claimed to be from Bedok army camp had contacted him on Sept 8.
In a phone call, Wong ordered 150 packets of nasi lemak with 150 bottles of water to be delivered for lunch the next day. The food and drinks were worth about $1,600 after discount, Mr Chee said.
“I gave them a discount because they are from the army and I wanted to create a good relationship,” he explained.
Mr Chee, whose eatery is non-Halal, noted that Wong sounded like a “young and earnest guy” and was convincing, though it struck him as odd when Wong said it was acceptable to serve non-Halal food in the army as long as there was no pork or lard.
Mr Chee asked for an advance payment, but Wong claimed it was a last-minute order and “the government department” would not be able to process the payment in time.
When Wong failed to show up at lunchtime on Sept 9, Mr Chee made at least four calls to his mobile number but there was no answer. Prior to that, Wong had been responsive on WhatsApp and even asked for photos of the nasi lemak being packed to forward to his boss.
Mr Chee eventually lodged a police report at about 1.30pm on Sept 9.
Fortunately for Mr Chee, as it was lunchtime and customers had started streaming in, he was able to sell all the uncollected food.
While no business was lost that day, Mr Chee noted that his team had to start earlier and dedicate half the Novena outlet to prepare the bulk order.
Meanwhile, Yi Jia Bakery along Thomson Road faced a similar ordeal. The 62-year-old owner who wanted to be known only as Mdm Low, told ST she received a call on the morning of Sept 11 from a man named “Gordon”, who claimed to be from Bedok camp.
He placed an urgent order for pastries worth $1,500 for 150 people, saying it was for an event the next day. He also arranged for the goods to be picked up at 6pm on Sept 12.
Despite being told the bakery produced non-Halal items, the man went ahead with the order, Mdm Low said.
When asked for payment, he claimed that army staff had already left for the day and he could transfer the money only the next morning. He later contacted the bakery using another number, saying his “phone was broken”.
On the morning of Sept 12, another man called, claiming to be a colleague of Gordon’s following up on the order. He also mentioned a supplier who provides ready-to-eat meals and asked Mdm Low to help him contact the supplier, which she refused.
By then, the men had contacted her through three different numbers, repeatedly confirming details via voice messages.
After several back-and-forth conversations on the orders, Mdm Low warned that she would call the police if the payment was not made. At about 4pm on Sept 12 – just two hours before the agreed collection time – most of the second man’s text messages had been deleted. Mdm Low had lost contact with both men.
Initial messages seen by ST were written in Chinese.
Mdm Low, who has run the bakery for about 15 years, said she had never encountered such a situation. She added that she usually enforces an advance full-payment rule but found the “army officer” sincere and wanted to maintain a good relationship with what she believed was a reputable customer.
She ended up giving away most of the unclaimed goods to food bank Food from the Heart. Mdm Low said the incident was “a lesson well-learnt”.
For Mr Chee, all was not lost. He said patrons from a gym across the road bought 20 packets of the food and insisted on paying for them, even though Mr Chee offered them for free to prevent wastage.
“This showed me that there is something good in human beings, not all are evil,” he said.
On Sept 14, the Ministry of Defence warned the public about fraudulent bulk orders made by individuals impersonating SAF personnel. In a Facebook post, it said it was aware of seven such cases, none of which involved actual SAF personnel, and that police reports had been lodged.
ST has contacted the police for more information.
Vihanya Rakshika from The Straits Times
