Indian Man extorted Businessman caught having Sex with Man

An Indian-Singaporean man has been jailed for 18 months after he attempted to extort a businessman who was secretly recorded having sex with another man.

Initially, three men hatched a plan to extort £32,000 from the married businessman.

The amount was later reduced to £27,000 but police arrested the three men, including the businessman’s personal assistant, before they received the money.

They were later released on bail.

However, one of the suspects, Tan Yong Jian, roped in Indian-Singaporean man Mahadevan Edwyn to try to extort the businessman again.

Jian had promised Edwyn a 50-50 split of the money.

On November 29, 2021, Edwyn was sentenced to 18 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to one count of criminal intimidation.

Edwyn committed the offence while he was under a remission order, just months after he was released from prison in late 2019.

The order stated he was meant to stay out of trouble from October 9, 2019, to August 28, 2020.

Due to breaching it, he must spend an additional 59 days in prison.

In 2019, the personal assistant secretly installed a camera in the businessman’s home.

He adjusted the device so he could be alerted through an application on his phone when someone was in the room.

During a three-week period, he managed to record his boss having sex with another man on at least five occasions.

The three men then hatched a plan to extort money from the victim. He then called the police.

The trio were arrested on March 13, 2020, following an investigation. They were released on bail.

However, Jian was adamant to extort the businessman and on April 2, 2020, he roped in Edwyn.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Zhou Yang said:

“The accused agreed to Yong Jian’s plan, as his income was affected by the economic downturn and he needed money to renovate his new flat.

“In a call later that day, Yong Jian provided the accused with further details about the videos as well as the victim’s background such that Yong Jian would not be implicated and the accused’s identity remained anonymous.”

The next day, Edwyn sent the victim a text, demanding £27,000.

The Indian-Singaporean man also threatened to upload videos of the businessman “committing gay acts” onto social media if he failed to do so.

DPP Yang continued: “Sometime around 7:41 pm, the accused messaged the victim ‘the clock is ticking’, as the victim did not reply to his earlier messages.

“Later at around 9:13 pm, the accused became irritated at the victim’s non-response.

“The accused messaged the victim, ‘(You) don’t know how to reply? Don’t make me irritated’.”

At around midnight, the businessman asked for the man’s identity. Edwyn replied:

“Save your words for someone who cares, because I don’t. I only want money or to ruin people’s lives, it’s your choice.”

The victim initially said he did not have the money, but on April 4, 2020, he told Edwyn that he needed about a week to get the £27,000.

The accused became suspicious and got rid of his mobile phone.

However, at around 9 pm that day, Edwyn was arrested.

On November 29, 2021, Mahadevan Edwyn was jailed for 18 months.