The Police have arrested three men, aged between 29 and 32, for their suspected involvement in deceiving a payment processing company into making payment of more than $600,000 in connection with the purchase of a luxury watch.
On 25 August 2021, the Police received a report by the payment processing company about a suspicious transaction where a man had sought a refund of over $600,000 incurred on his debit card for the purchase of the luxury watch.
Preliminary investigations revealed that sometime between June and July 2021, the man, with the help of two accomplices, had purportedly deceived the payment company to transfer 14 payments to the purported seller for the luxury watch. After payments were made, the buyer claimed that the luxury watch was never delivered and sought a full refund from the payment company.
Through follow-up investigations, officers from the Commercial Affairs Department established the identities of the men and arrested them on 2 September 2021. Investigations revealed that the payments made by the processing company were to a shell company which did not appear to have other business activities.
The three men will be charged in court on 26 May 2023. Two of the men, aged 31 and 32, will be charged for engaging in a conspiracy to cheat the payment processing company under Section 420 read with Section 109 of the Penal Code Chapter 224 while the third man, aged 29, will be charged for cheating under Section 417 read with Section 109 of the Penal Code Chapter 224. The offence of Cheating and Dishonestly inducing a delivery of property under Section 420 of the Penal Code carries an imprisonment term of up to 10 years and a fine. The offence of Cheating under Section 417 of the Penal Code carries an imprisonment term of up to three years and a fine.
The Police take a serious view of cheating offences, and offenders will be dealt with severely in accordance with the law.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
25 May 2023 @ 6:55 PM