PETALING JAYA: Four Malaysians, including a woman, were arrested in Singapore for involvement in three scams which saw the impersonation of government officials.
Total losses amounted to SG$1.17 million (RM3.68 million).
All four, aged between 24 and 30, were charged in the republic’s court yesterday.
Singapore police said the first case, reported on Oct 22, involved a victim allegedly tricked into transferring over SG$1.1 million by suspects impersonating government officials.
Police said the stolen funds were rapidly laundered through a complex network of payment channels and withdrawals via ATMs in Malaysia within hours of the transfers.
Further investigation by Singapore police’s anti-scam command, in collaboration with Bukit Aman’s commercial crime investigation department, led to the arrest of two Malaysian men, aged 24 and 30, last Tuesday.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that the two men were involved in helping a scam syndicate withdraw cash from ATMs in Malaysia using payment channel cards belonging to scam mules. The withdrawn cash was then handed over to unknown persons as part of the money laundering operation,” said the Singapore police in a statement on Tuesday.
The second case, reported to police on Monday, involved a victim allegedly deceived via a phone call by individuals impersonating a bank officer and a Monetary Authority of Singapore officer into believing he was under investigation for money laundering offences.
“The victim withdrew SG$50,000 and handed over the money to a 28-year-old man, who was the supposed investigation officer.
“The man was subsequently arrested at Woodlands Checkpoint when he attempted to depart from Singapore on the same day,” said the police.
The third case, also reported on Monday, saw an elderly citizen allegedly hand over SG$15,000 to a 26-year-old Malaysian woman impersonating an enforcement officer.
The victim felt something was amiss when she was later told to hand over another SG$9,000, and called police, who arrested the woman, who is also believed to be part of a transnational scam syndicate.
