A Singaporean influencer known for flaunting a lavish lifestyle on social media has admitted to a series of crimes, including breaking into a Sentosa bungalow and stealing luxury Louis Vuitton items worth approximately SGD 200,000 (P8.6 million). The case, which also involves fraud, forgery, and other deceptions, has drawn significant attention due to the influencer’s sizable following and extravagant public persona.
READ: Singapore Influencer Admits to Theft of Luxury Items
According to a report by The Straits Times, 26-year-old Chin Tung Sheng pleaded guilty to seven charges in court on March 7. His offenses, spanning from April 2020 to December 2023, included housebreaking, cheating, and forgery.
The housebreaking incident occurred in December 2023 when Chin entered a bungalow on Treasure Island in Sentosa. The home was listed for rent, and Chin had visited the property multiple times prior to the crime. During his visits, he reportedly noticed multiple luxury Louis Vuitton items, including three trunks, seven suitcases, and four boxes. It is said that he later entered the property—either using a passcode at the front door or through a back entrance he had unlocked earlier.
He then reportedly stole two Louis Vuitton trunks valued at over SGD 70,800 (approx. P3 million) each, along with other high-end items, which he later sold online and to luxury resellers. The owner of the bungalow says that the estimated total cost of the items stolen was SGD 200,000 (approx. P8.6 million).
Authorities were alerted when a worker conducting maintenance at the house noticed missing items and reported the theft. Investigators traced the crime back to Chin, who was subsequently arrested and has remained in remand since December 2023.
Chin Tung Seng’s Previous Cases
Beyond the housebreaking case, Chin was also involved in multiple fraudulent schemes. Channel News Asia reports that between August 2020 and April 2021, he reportedly deceived the shopping mall Ion Orchard into issuing him over SGD 76,900 (approx. P3.3 million) worth of shopping vouchers by submitting forged payment receipts. He is said to have manipulated more than 25 different membership accounts to accumulate membership points fraudulently, later exchanging them for luxury shopping vouchers. The scam was uncovered when a staff member at Ion noticed that all of Chin’s submitted receipts were electronic copies from the same store cash register of a luxury store.
Additionally, in July 2022, Chin booked a stay at Amara Sanctuary Sentosa and reportedly provided the hotel with a doctored screenshot of a PayNow transaction to falsely claim he had paid over SGD 13,200 (approx. P568,514) for his stay. He managed to check into the luxury hotel with his girlfriend, but the fraud was discovered when a finance manager flagged the missing payment and called the police. Chin had also reportedly attempted a similar scam with a Foodpanda delivery transaction, falsifying proof of payment for an order worth SGD 63 (approx. P2,713).
The fraudulent activities extended to business dealings as well. In 2020, he is said to have forged documents to mislead potential business partners into believing he had significant financial backing and connections to the Singapore government. Local news outlets say that he doctored bank statements to reflect balances of up to SGD 1.8 billion (approx. P77.5 billion) in one account and SGD 16.9 million (approx. P727 billion) in another. The Straits Times states he even altered an official letter from the Prime Minister’s Office to make it appear as though it was personally addressed to him, commending his efforts in supplying medical equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prosecutors have highlighted the pattern of deception, emphasizing that his crimes were not one-off mistakes but part of a long-standing pattern of fraudulent behavior. Deputy Public Prosecutor Caleb Looi is seeking a prison sentence of 35 to 44 months, noting that Chin’s lack of prior convictions should not be considered a strong mitigating factor given the persistence of his offenses.
In defense, Chin’s lawyer, Suang Wijaya, argued that his client’s crimes were driven by financial difficulties and professional setbacks. Nonetheless, Chin has pleaded guilty to his charges and is set to be sentenced on March 19.
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