Cheah Siew Im, 59, may look like a typical aunty you meet at the market, she was discovered to be a Malaysia-born con artist who managed to steal six identities and several fortunes in the last twenty years.
The Washington Post reported that for the offence, Cheah has been sentenced to a 51-month jail term in the United States (US).
During her trial, a federal prosecutor described Cheah as “a one-woman crime spree” and said that she had “perfected the art of identity theft”.
Master of the con
Her SOP was simple: she would identify herself as someone else, usually as her roommates or manicurists, and use it to scam people from Virginia to California.
In fact, she reportedly entered the US from Malaysia on a visitor’s visa under the name of Lee Sau Hoong in 2001. And you guessed it; even the identity was a stolen one. It reportedly belongs to a homemaker Kuala Lumpur, and she has never met Cheah in real life.
According to the report, Cheah committed her first crime back in 2004, when she was found guilty of identity theft, auto theft and burglary after she stole her landlord’s name and driving licence to buy a BMW.
Then, in 2011, she was arrested in California for writing a fake cheque of USD350,000 (RM1.46mil) under the name 'Claudia Lee' to buy back a diamond ring she pawned for USD100,000 (RM417,650).
In 2012, she identified herself as Teresa Cheah, and with that, she stole the identity of one of her roommates. Using her identity, she reportedly opened a bank account and cashed out her life insurance policy. She also sold two cars belonging to her roommate and bought a new one.
Later that year, she stole the identity of her roommate Cindy Lin, and Lin reportedly started incurring debts on credit cards she had never applied for and racking up traffic summonses in cars she never drove.
Cheah's gig was up when Lin made a police report in 2016 after she received a speeding ticket with a body camera image showing Cheah behind the wheel of a 2017 Porsche.
Cheah reportedly used Lin's driving license when she was pulled over for speeding in Ferraris and Porsches registered to various men.
Lies, lies, and more lies
On top of identity theft, Cheah also told lies to get her way, and they were not harmless white lies, mind you.
Among the most notorious lie that she used on unsuspecting victims was that she was the granddaughter of Singapore’s first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew. She would also tell her victims that she's a close friend of former US President Barack Obama.
Using those lies, Cheah reportedly conned professional athletes and successful executives into surrendering their money for ‘investments’ in the Nigerian oil bussiness, as well as sporting businesses in Washington DC.
One of her victimes revealed that Cheah seemed to know the oil and entertainment business really well, and she reportedly had financial documents to back up her claims.
“Had we known she was not being honest about her real identity, age and criminal background, we never would have trusted her,” a sports agent wrote in a letter to the court, according to the report.
Court records also said that Cheah’s victims, including a chef and several manucurists, described her as having “near-mystical powers of persuasion”.
The money she conned from her victims is now believed to be used on high-end cars, plastic surgery and designer handbags.
However, Cheah said the people who spoke against her as “not victims at all” and had “nothing to do with the situation” that put her behind bars.
Her identity is still a mystery
She pleaded guilty when charged for identity theft and fraud in an Alexandria federal court in Virginia, and she was sentenced to a jail term of 51 months on 4 October.Even so, her true identity confused the court.
Cheah reportedly told the court that her real name was Lee Sau Hoong and her lawyer said she was 66 years old, but prosecutor Gordon Kromberg reportedly objected.
“She’s not 66 years old, the woman whose identity she stole is 66 years old. She’s 59.
“Sau Hoong Lee is just another identity which she stole.”
When handing out her sentence, Judge TS Ellis III told Cheah that he's "a little confused about what name to use for you.”
Gosh, what a twisted story. Always be aware of such people guys!