Singapore jails man for trying to pay off dancing-girl debts by forging mum’s signature, selling her Rolls-Royce

In August 2022, Singaporean Liu Kuei Liang forged his mother’s signature on sales agreements, court documents show.

He fooled a car dealership into believing that she had authorised the sale of her Rolls-Royce Dawn 6.6 V12 and her Mini Cooper SE, per the records.

He pleaded guilty to forgery in a Singaporean court, and on March 22 was given a 12-week prison sentence.

His case is a window into parent-child relationships among the ultrawealthy – in this case one which had a six-figure fallout.

According to court records, Liu accumulated debts at diao hua clubs, where punters tip female dancers by buying them sashes and garlands of flowers. According to the Singaporean lifestyle site Zula, garlands for the performers start at below S$50 (US$37) and sashes can run into the hundreds.

Liu was “desperate” to raise cash when he convinced Autoart Singapore that his mother had authorised the sale, District Judge Brenda Chua wrote in a summary of the case in March.

When the dealer asked to speak to his mum to confirm, he gave them the phone number of a friend in Taiwan, who posed as his mother and waved the sale through, the summary said.

On that basis, the dealer paid out some US$110,000, and Liu handed over the cars.

But on August 16 that year, Liu’s mother alerted the police, and he was charged with forgery.

In court, Liu’s defence lawyers said his mum had offered him the use of her cars “as and when required”.

They also pointed to the fact that as the case moved forward, Liu’s mum forgave her son, the case summary says.

In August 2023, Liu’s mum signed a declaration saying she repaid the deposit to the dealership, got her cars back, and tried to withdraw her police report.

She only reported the crime “in a fit of pique”, Liu’s defence