Major scam leaves national shuttler almost penniless

 

National mixed doubles shuttler Lai Pei Jing has revealed that she was the victim of a major scam that left her nearly penniless.

In a heartfelt Facebook post last night, the 31-year-old professional badminton player expressed her distress and called for privacy for her family as they cope with the emotional aftermath of the incident.

Lai, part of the world number 23 duo with Tan Kian Meng explained that she lost most of her savings to a fraud, describing the experience as a "heavy blow".

"First of all, to my relatives and friends who see this post, whether you are curious or concerned, please give my family and me some private space to deal with our emotions.

“Please give us time to process everything, especially my mum. Thank you.

“Yes, I was scammed out of almost all of my savings by a fraud group. Honestly, this has been an extremely heavy blow to me,” she said.

She lamented that the savings she had lost were from decades of hard work.

“I reflect on it almost every second, and whenever my mind is idle, I naturally replay the entire scam and fall into a state of blaming myself for my foolishness and kindness," she lamented.

Moving forward

Despite the emotional toll, the 2022 Korean Open mixed doubles champion is determined to move forward as she has been managing her emotions and working with the police.

"I'll share more about it. I hope to prevent more victims and also force myself to accept the fact that I was scammed.

“So at this moment, I must grit my teeth and get through this because life still has to go on. The world won't stop turning just because of me... It seems like being strong is my only option," she said.

She added that: "I need some time to settle and process everything. Afterwards, I'll consider how to share the details of the scam with everyone. I hope my sharing can help others be more vigilant and prevent more victims from being deceived."

At the Singapore Open which concluded yesterday, Lai-Tan were eliminated as early as the second round.

Their next competition is the Indonesia Open in Jakarta from June 4 to 9.

- Bernama