S’porean man invests S$368,000 in sports business with Batam woman over 7 months, fears he might have been scammed - Mothership

The man made police reports in both Singapore and Indonesia.

A Singaporean man in his 30s said he may lose S$157,000 of the S$368,000 he transferred to an Indonesian woman's company.

According to the man, this was done across 84 bank transfers to her corporate account, which she is said to solely own.

This was done to fund the production of padel sports gear in Bali, Indonesia.

Speaking to Mothership, the man, who wished to remain anonymous, said the transfers took place between February 2026 and August 2026 before he lodged police reports in Singapore and Indonesia on Sep. 19.

The man, who visits Indonesia regularly, came to know of the woman who allegedly operated under a false name.

The man, who plays padel for social purposes, has friends who own padel courts in Indonesia.

Padel is a racket sport combining parts of tennis and squash.

Sometime in February 2026, he visited Batam, Indonesia, and was playing padel with friends, when they introduced him to the woman, Mariie.

Later, at a cafe in Batam, she asked if he was keen to participate in the production of padel gear.

The two purportedly came to an understanding of a proportionate divvying of profit to production.

For example, he would get 90 per cent profit for footing 90 per cent of the production bill.

Over the course of more than half a year, he made 84 bank transfers amounting to S$368,000.

The man told Mothership that 25 production batches were reportedly never delivered. This was expected to net him a profit of S$394,000.

He told Mothership that the items ordered included padel covers, towels, bikinis and mugs, with clients ranging from individuals to Pilates studios and padel courts based in Bali.

"...She builds trust by saying let's do a small batch first and let's keep it informal, no agreement, nothing. So small batch, the money came back," the man said, adding that the woman also provided proof of her supposed company information.

The arrangement started in February 2026.

Money for the first few batches came back, he said.

Given that the factories for producing the items were supposedly based in Indonesia, the man said it was weird that the receipts and invoices were in English.

Trouble began in June 2026 when he noticed that things had started to "slow down".

On top of that, there were allegedly clients ordering items in large quantities, such as 2,000 towels and bikinis.

But the man only realised he might have been scammed when a Pilates studio in Bali supposedly ordered 300 padel covers and 300 padel cover bags.

It was said to be a collaboration between the studio and the supposed padel business, he said.

He added that there is a trend where people in Indonesia would play padel and go for Pilates afterwards.

The owner of the Pilates studio, however, told him that she had never made such an order.

He also found older reports of what appeared to be the woman allegedly involved in another case of embezzlement.

Following this, the woman has allegedly continued to operate with a Singapore-based number, the man added.

While he has since made police reports in Singapore and Indonesia, he believes the woman is still at large.

Responding to Mothership's queries, the Police confirmed that a report was lodged and are looking into the matter.

The woman did not immediately respond to Mothership's request for comment.