SINGAPORE – A former CarTimes Group employee allegedly collected from a customer $67,000 and an old car traded in for a new Toyota but now has gone missing.

Both the police and the car dealership have launched their own investigations into the matter.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, private-hire driver Ng Poh Leng said that after she traded in her old Honda Shuttle, worth about $105,000, she went on holiday for six days.

She expected to get her new ride when she came back on May 29.

But in those six days, all her calls to salesman Chan Chee Ken went unanswered, and on May 30, she did not get her new car as planned.

Ms Ng rushed down to the CarTimes office in Ubi Avenue and discovered, to her horror, that the firm did not get the money she put down for her new Toyota Yaris Cross.

On June 1, she made a police report.

In her Facebook post, Ms Ng said she first met Mr Chan at Automobile Megamart on April 25 while looking to buy a new car.

Two days later, Mr Chan contacted Ms Ng to ask if she was keen on looking at a Toyota Noah, and she said yes. She then sent $10,000 to Mr Chan using a QR code he provided.

On April 28, Ms Ng told Mr Chan that she wanted to buy a Toyota Yaris Cross sports utility vehicle instead. She then transferred $50,000 to a UOB bank account provided by him, and was told that she would be able to collect her new car by May 22.

On May 18, Ms Ng traded in her Honda Shuttle for $105,000 as part of the payment for the new car, and paid the remaining $7,000 by again scanning a QR code provided by Mr Chan.

Ms Ng wrote: “He also assisted me to do the transfer of ownership of my trade-in vehicle to CarTimes, for which I was very grateful, as I am not IT savvy, but I ended up regretting it later on.”

On the day she was supposed to collect the car, she was told it was not ready as a result of port delays and the wait to undergo an inspection by the Land Transport Authority.

Though upset, Ms Ng agreed to exchange the vehicles on May 30 instead, after she returned from her six-day trip.

As Mr Chan did not respond to any of her calls while she was on her trip, she went to the CarTimes office. There, the sales manager said the car was ready for collection, but no payments had been received.

Her Honda Shuttle’s ownership was also not transferred to CarTimes.

Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, Ms Ng said the new car she was supposed to receive has now been impounded.

She said the car dealership has lent her a car for temporary use, but it has been on the road for more than 12 years, and cannot be used as a private-hire car.

She added that CarTimes gave her $2,400 to rent a car from other companies.

In a statement posted on Facebook on Sunday, the CarTimes Group said Mr Chan is believed to have engaged in fraudulent activities that it did not authorise or condone.

These include approaching customers and offering unauthorised trade-in services, asking customers to send payment to personal accounts, misappropriating funds, and misrepresenting himself as acting as being on behalf of the firm.

The firm added that it is helping one customer try and get back her money with the help of its insurer, and it is helping two customers get a “temporary resolution” until investigations are over.

In response to queries, CarTimes said its last contact with Mr Chan was on May 31. He started working at the dealership in August 2022 until May 2023.

The firm’s internal investigation found that Mr Chan told Ms Ng to transfer the money to his personal bank account, and the firm was not involved in the trade-in transaction, said CarTimes.

The firm said in a statement: “We are reaching out to the affected customers to assist in uncovering the full extent of Ken’s activities and to assist in the investigations.”