The police have seized S$590,000 (RM1.75 million) in cash after they arrested two men who dishonestly received the money by impersonating Chinese officials in phone scams. This is the highest amount seized by the Singapore police in what is a breakthrough for such cases.
The two unemployed Malaysian men, who are aged 18 and 33, will be charged in court tomorrow, said the police in a press conference today.
TODAY understands the 18-year-old is a Singapore permanent resident who is waiting to further his studies here. The duo will be remanded for further investigations.
Another 18-year-old Malaysian suspect connected to the case was charged in court earlier on Saturday (June 2), the same day a 51-year-old Singaporean victim lodged a police report after she transferred S$100,000 to a bank account.
The unemployed man, Chow Wai Chung, who is from Perak, arrived in Singapore on May 17 and holds a social visit pass. Chow faces a holding charge of dishonestly by receiving stolen property.
The arrests came following investigations into two police reports made by the 51-year-old victim, who is unemployed, and another 55-year-old Singaporean housewife, who lodged a report on June 2 after handing over S$310,000 to an unknown man over two days.
Both victims handed over their money after they were allegedly duped into thinking they were involved in a transnational money laundering crime. They were contacted over the phone by unknown men who claimed to be the police.
The women were then instructed to withdraw all their savings for investigations.
The seized items from the two men were shown during the press conference, and they included stacks of money in S$50 and S$100 denominations, a banknote counter, a hard disk consisting of CCTV footage belonging to the accused, and two mobile phones.
Police investigations are still ongoing to establish the identities of other victims, as well as perpetrators in the syndicate.
https://www.malaymail.com/s/1638710/singapore-police-seize-s590000-in-cash-from-malaysian-phone-scammers