Men posing as cops cheat foreign workers of over $18,000
Three men cheated four foreign workers of more than $18,000 by pretending to be police officers.
In 2017, the four victims were near Mustafa Centre when they were approached by the men.
The men first approached two of the victims.
One of the accused, Kreetharan Kathireson, 32, told them to go to the police station.
Another of the men, Sivakumar Israve, 48, told one of the victims that they were being taken to the station for doing illegal money transactions and cheating the Singapore Government.
They were led to a car and driven to an office nearby, which Kreetharan used.
Once the two victims were inside the office, they were told to put their belongings on the table.
After they surrendered their belongings, a man referred to as "Jahangir" entered the office. Court documents did not state who this man was.
They tried to appeal to Sivakumar and Kreetharan through Jahangir, but he said they would only return their work permits, but not their money.
Jahangir also told the victims that Sivakumar and Kreetharan were not good people, and said they had cheated others before.
Some of the accused persons then left the office and approached the third and the fourth victims who were in the back lane of Mustafa Centre.
They surrounded them and claimed to be from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and accused them of doing illegal business. They were taken back to the office and told to hand over their belongings.
In all, the men scammed the victims of more than $18,000 in cash and several mobile phones.
PUNCHED
When the victims realised they had been scammed, they pleaded for their money back.
One of them tried to pursue Kreetharan and another accused person, Madavakhandam Panjanathan, 39, but was instead punched in the face and stomach by him.
Yesterday, Sivakumar and Kreetharan were jailed for 14 months, while Madavakhandam Panjanathan, 39, was jailed for 14 months and two weeks after a trial.
They were also ordered to pay compensation to the victims.
All three are appealing against sentence and conviction.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
