A man named Chen Zixiang found himself behind bars after orchestrating a bizarre scheme involving his own friends, aimed at extorting a substantial sum from his mother through a fake kidnapping project.

One of his friends, 31-year-old Jaivin s/o Uthirapathy, has been sentenced to seven weeks in jail after admitting to two charges of conspiracy to cheat and mischief.

Jaivin initially met Chen Zixiang over a decade ago through a poker forum.  At Zixiang's request, Jaivin reached out to another friend, Chen Shijie, to organize a poker game in Shijie's condominium unit. Unfortunately, the game was called off due to insufficient participants, leaving only Zixiang, Jaivin, and Shijie at the condo.

It was during this gathering that Zixiang unveiled his plan to extort money from his own mother. Jaivin reluctantly agreed to assist, as he owed Zixiang money.

The elaborate scheme involved Zixiang injuring himself to make a fake kidnapping scenario more convincing. He contacted his mother, claiming to be a former scammer who had been kidnapped by his victims. Zixiang would demand a ransom for his release.

  
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To bolster this ruse, Zixiang struck his left arm and body with a plastic chair, sending pictures of his injuries to his mother. When his mother informed him she couldn't provide the requested S$200,000 (RM967K+++), Zixiang further injured his arm.

At this point, Jaivin and Shijie were brought into the charade, posing as kidnappers, using strong language and feigning impatience when negotiating with Zixiang's mother in an attempt to force her into transferring the money quickly.

Despite Zixiang later reducing the demanded amount to S$20,000 (roughly RM69K++) his mother only transferred S$1,000 (RM3.4K++). When he returned home after his failed ransom attempt, the police were already waiting for him. 

What do you think of this bizarre case? Comment below. 

Source: zaobao.com.sg