Remember 2020? Ah, the golden era of Circuit Breaker. We were all stuck at home baking sourdough, violently wiping down our FairPrice groceries with Dettol, and treating a single blue surgical mask like a rare, shiny Pokémon.

While most of us were just trying not to lose our minds, one local guy looked at the nationwide panic and saw a golden, multi-million dollar business opportunity.

Enter Gerald Chan Tzen-Chou.

Recently, the 48-year-old was sentenced to 8 years and 9 months in Changi Prison after scamming 11 victims out of a whopping S$3.79 million.

How did he pull off one of the biggest pandemic-era scams in Singapore? Grab your Kopi-O, because the details are pure wayang.

Step 1: Fake It Until You… Buy It Off Carousell?

Gerald wanted everyone to believe he was an elite, top-tier medical distributor secretly supplying 3M surgical masks to major Singapore hospitals.

To make his operation look ultra-legit, he rented three separate offices and stacked them to the ceiling with boxes of medical supplies. If a client walked in, they’d think, “Wah, this guy got serious stock!”

The catch? His “supply chain” wasn’t coming from high-tech factories overseas. His poor employees were literally scouring Carousell to buy random boxes from everyday sellers just to make the offices look full.

Yes, Carousell—the same place where people sell used IKEA chairs and half-eaten snack packs.

Step 2: The “Small Fish, Big Net” Strategy

Gerald wasn’t completely stupid—he knew how to bait a hook.

When new clients placed small orders, he actually delivered them! Sure, the delivery was a bit late, but the masks actually showed up. The victims thought, “Eh, late a bit never mind lah, at least he’s reliable!”

Once trust was built, Gerald dropped the big-budget ghost stories:

• The Indonesian Factory: He convinced one victim to drop $80,000 into a “surgical mask factory in Indonesia” that promised a daily profit return of $1,000. (Spoiler: No factory existed).
• The 10 Million Mask Ship: He convinced the same victim to transfer S$800,000 as a deposit for a mythical shipment of 10 million masks supposedly arriving at Singapore’s port.

All in all, his biggest single victim lost a staggering S$850,000. Ouch.

Step 3: Where Did the $3.79 Million Go?

Did Gerald use his millions to actually manufacture masks or pay back his suppliers?

Of course not.

Instead, he used the money to pay his office rentals, buy lavish gifts, cover personal expenses, and—the cherry on top—spent S$418,933 at the Marina Bay Sands casino between late 2019 and early 2020.

Because nothing says “I am a serious medical equipment CEO” quite like rolling $400k on baccarat at MBS.

Step 4: Bail? What Bail?

Police eventually caught on and arrested Gerald in April 2020. They released him on bail while investigations were ongoing.

Normal people would lay low, call a lawyer, and spend their days sweating profusely. Gerald? He looked at his bail conditions, shrugged, and continued scamming new victims right through the rest of the year.

By December 2020, police had enough of his endless scamming and locked him up for good. He’s been sitting in remand ever since.

The Final Verdict

Fast forward to today: The judge wasn’t impressed by Gerald’s antics, especially since over S$3.2 million remains completely unrecovered. He’s now serving nearly 9 years behind bars.

The Moral of the Story? If someone during a global crisis promises you 10 million face masks sourced off Carousell and asks for an $800k deposit to fund their MBS runs… please just walk away. Stick to buying your $1.50 Kopi-O and leave the high-stakes investment schemes to the pros!