SINGAPORE: Two men will be charged in court on Friday (Feb 6) for their suspected involvement in government official impersonation scams involving cash and jewellery handovers.
A 22-year-old Malaysian man and 20-year-old Singaporean man had allegedly been tasked by unknown people, believed to be part of a transnational scam syndicate, to collect cash, gold and valuables from scam victims, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said on Thursday.
The two were tasked to then pass the cash and valuables on to other unknown parties, preliminary investigations showed.
They will be charged in court with abetment by conspiracy to assist another to retain benefits from criminal conduct. If convicted, the men may be jailed for up to 10 years, fined up to S$500,000, or both.
The two men are also suspected to be involved in other similar cases, SPF said. The police will seek a remand order to facilitate further investigations into additional suspected cases linked to the duo.
One of the victims - an elderly woman - lodged a report on Jan 30 stating she had received a call from someone claiming to be from Trust Bank.
The caller alleged that the woman’s SingPass had been misused to apply for a Trust credit card and that unauthorised transactions had been made.
When she denied having a Trust credit card, the call was transferred to a person purporting to be from the “Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) of Singapore”.
The woman was then told she was under investigation for a S$2.5 million money laundering case and was instructed to hand over her available cash, watches and jewellery to an “investigation officer”.
The jewellery was worth more than S$90,000.
Later that day, the woman handed over her valuables to the Malaysian man in the vicinity of Bishan Street 12.
The caller then told her to withdraw her fixed deposit and transfer the funds to another bank account.
However, the woman’s son intervened and prevented the transfer from being completed.
In a separate case, another victim lodged a police report on Feb 4 after she had received a call purportedly from HSBC Bank informing her of unauthorised transactions on an HSBC credit card under her name.
When the woman denied having an HSBC credit card, she was transferred to a person claiming to represent MHA, who alleged that she was involved in a money laundering case.
The caller then instructed the woman to hand over her gold jewellery and valuables worth approximately S$62,900 to an “investigation officer”.
Later that day, the woman handed her items to the same Malaysian man in the vicinity of Seletar Hills Estate.
She was then asked to provide details of her bank accounts and to consolidate her available funds into a single account for transfer to an unknown account for “investigation purposes”.
Sensing something was amiss, the woman contacted the police, and the money transfer was aborted, SPF said.
After ground enquiries and follow-up investigations, the police subsequently arrested the Malaysian man at Woodlands Checkpoint while he was attempting to leave Singapore on Feb 4.
Valuables belonging to the second victim were found in his possession.
In a separate case, another victim lodged a police report on Jan 23 after she received a call purportedly from UnionPay Insurance claiming she held multiple insurance policies.
The call was transferred to an “MHA officer”, who told the victim she was implicated in a money laundering case and instructed her to hand over S$10,000 to an “investigation officer”.
The victim handed over the cash to the Singaporean man later that day.
The police subsequently also arrested the Singaporean man at Woodlands Checkpoint while he was attempting to leave Singapore on Feb 4.
There is an increasing trend of Malaysian nationals crossing into Singapore to act as cash- and valuables-collectors for scam syndicates, the police said.
Scammers and members or recruiters of scam syndicates will face mandatory caning of at least six strokes and a maximum of 24 strokes.
Scam mules who enable scammers by laundering scam proceeds will face discretionary caning of up to 12 strokes.
Those involved in mule-related offences may also be subject to restrictions on banking services and mobile line subscriptions to prevent further facilitation of scams.
“The police take a serious stance against any person who may be involved in scams, and perpetrators will be dealt with in accordance with the law,” SPF said.
The police urged members of the public not to transfer money and valuables to unknown people whose identities have not been verified, leave them somewhere for collection, or share the screen of their device or disclose login credentials to anyone whose identity is unknown.
Members of the public are reminded that government officials will never ask them to transfer money over the phone, share bank log-in details, download apps from unofficial sources or transfer phone calls to the police.
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A 22-year-old Malaysian man and 20-year-old Singaporean man had allegedly been tasked by unknown people, believed to be part of a transnational scam syndicate, to collect cash, gold and valuables from scam victims, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said on Thursday.
The two were tasked to then pass the cash and valuables on to other unknown parties, preliminary investigations showed.
They will be charged in court with abetment by conspiracy to assist another to retain benefits from criminal conduct. If convicted, the men may be jailed for up to 10 years, fined up to S$500,000, or both.
The two men are also suspected to be involved in other similar cases, SPF said. The police will seek a remand order to facilitate further investigations into additional suspected cases linked to the duo.
THE VICTIMS
One of the victims - an elderly woman - lodged a report on Jan 30 stating she had received a call from someone claiming to be from Trust Bank.
The caller alleged that the woman’s SingPass had been misused to apply for a Trust credit card and that unauthorised transactions had been made.
When she denied having a Trust credit card, the call was transferred to a person purporting to be from the “Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) of Singapore”.
The woman was then told she was under investigation for a S$2.5 million money laundering case and was instructed to hand over her available cash, watches and jewellery to an “investigation officer”.
The jewellery was worth more than S$90,000.
Later that day, the woman handed over her valuables to the Malaysian man in the vicinity of Bishan Street 12.
The caller then told her to withdraw her fixed deposit and transfer the funds to another bank account.
However, the woman’s son intervened and prevented the transfer from being completed.
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In a separate case, another victim lodged a police report on Feb 4 after she had received a call purportedly from HSBC Bank informing her of unauthorised transactions on an HSBC credit card under her name.
When the woman denied having an HSBC credit card, she was transferred to a person claiming to represent MHA, who alleged that she was involved in a money laundering case.
The caller then instructed the woman to hand over her gold jewellery and valuables worth approximately S$62,900 to an “investigation officer”.
Later that day, the woman handed her items to the same Malaysian man in the vicinity of Seletar Hills Estate.
She was then asked to provide details of her bank accounts and to consolidate her available funds into a single account for transfer to an unknown account for “investigation purposes”.
Sensing something was amiss, the woman contacted the police, and the money transfer was aborted, SPF said.
After ground enquiries and follow-up investigations, the police subsequently arrested the Malaysian man at Woodlands Checkpoint while he was attempting to leave Singapore on Feb 4.
Valuables belonging to the second victim were found in his possession.
In a separate case, another victim lodged a police report on Jan 23 after she received a call purportedly from UnionPay Insurance claiming she held multiple insurance policies.
The call was transferred to an “MHA officer”, who told the victim she was implicated in a money laundering case and instructed her to hand over S$10,000 to an “investigation officer”.
The victim handed over the cash to the Singaporean man later that day.
The police subsequently also arrested the Singaporean man at Woodlands Checkpoint while he was attempting to leave Singapore on Feb 4.
MORE MALAYSIANS ACTING AS COLLECTORS IN SINGAPORE FOR SCAM SYNDICATES
There is an increasing trend of Malaysian nationals crossing into Singapore to act as cash- and valuables-collectors for scam syndicates, the police said.
Scammers and members or recruiters of scam syndicates will face mandatory caning of at least six strokes and a maximum of 24 strokes.
Scam mules who enable scammers by laundering scam proceeds will face discretionary caning of up to 12 strokes.
Those involved in mule-related offences may also be subject to restrictions on banking services and mobile line subscriptions to prevent further facilitation of scams.
“The police take a serious stance against any person who may be involved in scams, and perpetrators will be dealt with in accordance with the law,” SPF said.
The police urged members of the public not to transfer money and valuables to unknown people whose identities have not been verified, leave them somewhere for collection, or share the screen of their device or disclose login credentials to anyone whose identity is unknown.
Members of the public are reminded that government officials will never ask them to transfer money over the phone, share bank log-in details, download apps from unofficial sources or transfer phone calls to the police.
Continue reading...