A MAN who was charged last week with cheating was back in court yesterday to face charges of pretending to be a professional photographer and inducing three young women to pose in lingerie and in the nude with the promise of payment.
Tan Eng Hwa, 36, is accused of deceiving a 20-year-old student into believing that he would pay her $700 for allowing him to take professional photos of her in lingerie and in the nude on Dec 30 and 31 last year. He is said to have similarly duped a 22-year-old graphic designer into posing for him in lingerie on April 15 last year, and to have deceived an 18-year-old student into allowing him to take pictures of her in the nude at a hotel last June.
A police statement said that Tan did not pay any of the women after photographing them. He also reneged on his promise to help them get modelling assignments.
Tan, who is unemployed, was unable to raise the bail of $20,000. Investigations are ongoing. If convicted, he faces a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine for each charge.
Last week, Tan was charged with cheating a Mr Ho Yew Leong of $400 last July by dishonestly making the victim transfer cash to his bank account on the pretext that he could get him a loan of $8,540. Yesterday, Tan was further charged with deceiving Mr Ho into giving him another $3,900 between Aug 12 and Aug 20 last year.
He will appear in court on Feb 25.
--ST