A debt-ridden gambler robbed a “rich girl”, held her in a hotel room at the Sands Hotel for 12 hours, tied her hands and feet with tape, and took nude photos to force her to transfer more than $70,000.

The defendant Huang Yang (25) from China pleaded guilty to robbery and was sentenced to three years and two months in prison and 12 strokes of the cane after the remaining charges of secret photography were handed over to the judge.

The case revealed that the defendant and the victim met through social platforms, and the two had a relationship when they first met in March last year. The defendant lost a lot of money due to online gambling at the time, and he was heavily in debt due to business failure in China, so he decided to take the risk and rob the “rich girl” in front of him to pay off the debt.

After the pair met and had sex in the hotel room on Mar. 20, 2021, Huang ambushed the woman after she came out from the shower naked. Huang then bound the woman’s hands and legs using a tape he had kept prepared in the room. He then coerced her to reveal her phone’s passcode.

According to Zaobao which first reported the news, the woman resisted but ultimately acceded to Huang’s demands after he pushed her forcefully. The woman lost a total of 341,200 yuan (S$72,800), over the course of the night. He tried to take a 300,000 yuan (S$64,000) loan using the victim’s name, but his attempt was foiled and rejected by the bank. According to Zaobao, the victim was held hostage for around 12 hours.

The victim called the bank to cancel her transactions after Huang released her, but it was too late. Huang was sentenced to three years and two months of imprisonment, along with 12 strokes of the cane, on March 28, 2022.