Two of the three men, aged 26 and 34, were extradited to Singapore on Friday and were charged in court on Saturday (July 1). - PHOTOS: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): Three Singaporean men were arrested in Johor on Monday for allegedly laundering proceeds from scam victims in Singapore.
The trio, aged between 26 and 40, were nabbed in an apartment complex in Johor after a joint operation by the Singapore Police Force’s Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) and the Royal Malaysia Police’s Bukit Aman and Johor Commercial Crime Investigation Departments, the Singapore police said on Friday.
Preliminary investigations showed that the men allegedly obtained Singaporean bank accounts through chat platforms such as Telegram and Facebook to launder proceeds from investment scams, job scams, e-commerce scams and government official impersonation scams reported in Singapore.
More than 50 police reports were filed for scams linked to the men, with the scam victims losing more than $2.9 million in total.
Two of the three men, aged 26 and 34, were extradited to Singapore on Friday and will be charged in court on Saturday.
If convicted of assisting another person to retain benefits from criminal conduct, they can be jailed up to 10 years, fined up to $500,000, or both.
Meanwhile, the third Singaporean is currently still being investigated by the Malaysian police for a separate offence committed in Malaysia.
CAD deputy director Shee Tek Tze advised the public to ignore offers of quick monetary gains in exchange for the use of one’s bank accounts.
“Scammers need bank accounts from money mules to launder and move the scam proceeds out of Singapore in order to avoid detection and confiscation by the police,” he said.
“They are constantly looking to procure more bank accounts to facilitate their money laundering activities.”
In February, a similar syndicate was crippled after raids in Johor and Singapore netted 12 Malaysians, aged 16 to 27, who were suspected of carrying out fake friend call scams targeting Singaporeans.
The public can call the anti-scam hotline on 1800-722-6688 or visit www.scamalert.sg for more information on scams. - The Straits Times/ANN
