THEY looked like any regular big spenders in a nightspot.

In one night, the couple were seen spending up to $600 on three bottles of brandy on friends.

In a week, they would splurge at least $2,000 at the club.

They were also big-tippers, sometimes seen stuffing $50 notes into a waiter's pocket.

While they appeared to be well-off, it seems that the couple may have been throwing around money that did not belong to them.

At least two police reports have been filed against the couple, who are in their 40s.

This was after they went missing with money they had allegedly borrowed from customers and two employees of a well-known nightspot.

In just two months, they had taken at least $40,000 from their victims.

Their modus operandi: Forge a close friendship with their prey, earn their trust by borrowing and returning a small loan, then asking for a bigger sum.

One of the victims is Mr Y E Chen, 37, a club employee who lent the couple $28,000 last year. He did so because the couple, who supposedly ran a food and beverage business, said they were cash-strapped.

Mr Chen told The New Paper: 'They said they needed the money urgently as a partner was embroiled in a court case. If he couldn't pay, he would have to go jail.

'As a friend, I thought I could help.'

This loan wiped out Mr Chen's hard-earned savings.

Two months ago, he filed a police report against the couple after repeated attempts to recover the money over six months failed.

This was followed by another police report filed by Mr Chen's colleague, Mr Ricky Tan, 40.

Mr Tan lent the couple $15,000 last April, which has not been repaid. He said: 'I got to know them early last year. They didn't appear to be dishonest types. They were friendly, polite and soft-spoken.

'At that point, both of them didn't seem to have any ulterior motive or to be in any kind of financial difficulty.'

The couple visited the nightspot nearly six times a week between February and April last year.

F&B DIRECTOR

A check with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority showed that one of them is a director of a food and beverage business.

It is not known if the couple are married. The man, who is medium-built, is always wearing a polo T-shirt and jeans. He is often accompanied by a petite and well-groomed female companion.

The woman, a pub-goer said, is believed to have worked as a waitress in a Chinatown pub three years ago.

In just one month, the couple became close friends with Mr Chen and his friends.

In early March, Mr Chen got a call asking for an emergency loan of $1,300, because the couple claimed that they needed to pay their workers.

Although the sum was repaid within two days, they asked Mr Chen for a $28,000 loan two weeks later.

Thinking that the money would be repaid in 14 days as promised, MrChen transferred $8,000 and $20,000 into one of their bank accounts on 26Mar and 2 Apr respectively.

CHEQUE BOUNCED

On 31 Mar, the couple issued a cheque of $8,000 to repay Mr Chen.

But he realised he could have been duped when he received a letter from the bank on 9 Apr informing him that the cheque had bounced.

Mr Chen said: 'She told me to hold onto the cheque. Next, they avoided my calls and text messages.'

Little did Mr Chen know that the couple had also spun a similar sob story to his colleague.

Mr Tan recalled: 'I was convinced that they would repay the $15,000 loan. But after a month, I didn't get it back and didn't hear from them.'

Both victims said the couple continued to patronise the club, spending hundreds of dollars each time. But they stopped visiting from May when Mr Tan and Mr Chen chased them for repayment.

The couple had also borrowed money from customers at the club.

One of the club's regulars, Mr C Y Choo, 36, a civil servant, said: 'I lent them $1,500 last April because they seemed trustworthy. They took some time to return the money.

'I didn't make further loans as I had been warned by the employees and customers of their tactics.'

SMOOTH TALKERS

When contacted, the club owner told The New Paper that he was aware of the couple's tactics, describing them as 'smooth talkers'.

But the club said it would not interfere as it was a personal matter.

Mr Chen said: 'It's a cautionary tale to warn other party-goers. With so many nightspots in Singapore, they could be anywhere.'

Lawyer Anand Nalachandran said that there could be a criminal complaint because the circumstances of the loan may constitute a cheating offence, if there was an element of deception or dishonesty.

He added: 'Any plaintiff can instruct a lawyer to commence civil proceedings in the courts for an unpaid debt or dishonoured cheque.'