Five men, aged between 19 and 37, will be charged in court on 22 May 2023 for their suspected involvement in money laundering activities which were linked to scams in two separate cases.
In the first case, the Police investigated two 19-year-old men after receiving a report in January 2023 from a victim who had fallen prey to a China Officials Impersonation Scam (COIS). Investigations revealed that in December 2022, one of the men responded to a Telegram message that offered him fast cash in exchange for opening a SCB bank account. After opening the bank account, he handed over his iBanking login details to an unknown person. The 19-year-old man later told his friend about the arrangement and the latter similarly do it for the monetary gain. Both their bank accounts were subsequently used to launder proceeds of crime amounting to more than $86,000.
In the second case, the Police investigated three men, aged between 33 and 37, after an e-commerce platform lodged a report that they had discovered sham transactions on their platform with losses amounting to more than $50,000. Investigations revealed that two of the men had provided their bank accounts’ iBanking login details to the third man. Amongst the two men, one of them aged 37, admitted doing so in exchange for monetary gain and had also recruited others into engaging the same illicit activities. Their bank accounts were eventually used to receive monies in the form of refunds which were fraudulently procured from the said e-commerce platform, through an exploitation of a refund policy.
For deceiving the banks into opening bank accounts that were not meant for their own use and relinquishing their bank account login details, these two men in the first case will be charged with respective offences under Section 417 read with Section 109 of the Penal Code and Section 3(1) of the Computer Misuse Act 1993. The offence of cheating under Section 417 of the Penal Code carries an imprisonment term of up to three years, or with fine, or both, while the offence under Section 3(1) of the Computer Misuse Act 1993 carries a fine of up to $5,000, or an imprisonment term of up to two years, or both.
For relinquishing their bank account login details, the three men in the second case will be charged with offence under Section 3(1) of the Computer Misuse Act 1993. The offence carries a fine of up to $5,000, or an imprisonment term of up to two years, or both. For disclosing the e-commerce account login details, the 37-year-old men faces an additional charge under Section 8(1)(a) of the Computer Misuse Act 1993. The offence carries a fine of up to $10,000, or an imprisonment term of up to three years, or both.
The Police take a serious view of these offences and will not hesitate to take action against individuals who may be involved in scams, and perpetrators will be dealt with in accordance with the law. To avoid being an accomplice to crime, members of the public should always reject seemingly attractive money-making opportunities promising pay-outs for the use of their Singpass account, bank accounts or allow their personal bank account to be used to receive and transfer money for others. The Police would like to remind members of the public that individuals will be held accountable if they are found to be linked to such crimes.
For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam Hotline at 1800-722-6688. Anyone with information on such scams may call the Police Hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. All information will be kept strictly confidential.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
21 May 2023 @ 8:50 PM