THERE was an added element of interest in a property cashback court case - runaway lawyer David Rasif was fingered as a ‘prime mover’ in the scam.
In the dock was property agent Goh Chong Liang, 37, who admitted to his role in a cashback scam to cheat banks into giving out housing loans.
But all in the gallery listened attentively when both defence lawyer Peter Fernando and Deputy Public Prosecutor Jason Chan pointed to Rasif’s stake in the scam.
District Judge Liew Thiam Leng was told of how Goh conspired with Rasif to dupe the banks into granting loans in the scam.
DPP Chan gave the court an idea of how such a scam worked - a property agent will work with a buyer and seller to inflate the price of the seller’s flat.
This will secure a higher housing loan for the buyer. The difference between the loan amount and the actual price of the resale flat is then split between those involved in the scam.
The court heard that Goh had roped in Rasif, through his law firm at the time, to act for flat sellers in the scam.
In order to inflate the price of a flat, Goh included the renovation costs for the flat by a shell company he helped set up.
The company, however, never carried out any such work at all.
Source: The Straits Times, 26 July 2007
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