A 43-year-old man has claimed that he lost around $60,000 after what he believed was a genuine relationship with a masseuse from China allegedly ended in disappointment.
Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, the logistics worker, who identified himself only as Deng, said he first met the 41-year-old woman, surnamed Li, at a massage parlour in Toa Payoh on December 27, 2025.
Deng said he visited the establishment several times after their first meeting and gradually developed a close bond with Li. He claimed she often started conversations, showed concern for him and opened up about difficulties she was facing in her personal life.
At the time, Deng was still legally married, but he said he and his wife had already been estranged for a long period and had stopped communicating despite continuing to live in the same home.
He said that by March, he noticed Li seemed increasingly distressed. After repeatedly asking about her situation, Deng said she eventually revealed that she was struggling with debts.
“She said that she had borrowed a large sum of money from relatives and friends to renovate her new house in China, and was overwhelmed by huge debts,” Deng recounted, adding that Li had also told him she was under pressure to repay the money.
Moved by her situation, Deng said he decided to offer financial support.
He claimed his first payment was $5,017, which was sent to Li’s mother through a money transfer service. He said he later made several other transfers and cash deposits into Li’s account.
According to the Chinese daily, Deng estimated that he carried out five or six remittances, amounting to at least $40,000 in total.
Apart from the money transfers, Deng said he also spent additional funds on gifts and expenses connected to Li’s work. These included buying her a new Apple phone and helping improve her sales performance, with the overall amount estimated at about $20,000.
“My salary is usually managed by my wife, and I don’t have much cash on hand, so I have to borrow from banks and legal loan companies. In just six months, I accumulated a debt of about $60,000,” he said.
Deng said the relationship later deteriorated, prompting him to end it and ask Li to return some of the money he had provided.
“I didn’t want to pressure her too much, so I only asked her to return $20,000 first. She initially agreed, but later went back on her promise,” he said.
He added that he later went to the massage parlour where Li had worked, but found that it had closed down. Deng said he subsequently discovered that she had reportedly moved to another workplace along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4.
Li’s current whereabouts remain unknown, and her former colleagues reportedly told Shin Min Daily News that she may have already left Singapore and returned to China.
Looking back on the incident, Deng said he felt he had placed his trust and sincerity in the wrong person, adding: “This time, I really paid a lot to learn this lesson.”
