Trio allegedly linked to scams charged over suspected money laundering
Three people allegedly linked to scams where victims lost more than $500,000 were charged in court on Friday (July 29) over their suspected involvement in money laundering activities.
They are: Mohammad Shahfiee Jasni Mohamad Adnan, 19; Aloysius Kong Jia Jie, 22; and a 17-year-old youth who cannot be named as those below 18 are covered under the Children and Young Persons Act.
In a statement on Thursday (July 28), the police had said that the trio had allegedly responded to messages on Telegram to disclose their Singpass details to unknown individuals.
These Singpass accounts were then used to open bank accounts online.
The police added: "These compromised bank accounts were employed to launder proceeds of crime derived from various scams. At least eight persons became victims in these scams, and a total of more than $500,000 was lost.
"The three men are believed to have been promised amounts ranging from $200 to $2,000 each, in return for giving up their Internet-banking login credentials and Singpass credentials to the unknown parties."
On Friday, the 17-year-old was handed three charges - the most among the trio.
He is now accused of one count of cheating and two charges under the Computer Misuse Act.
Last November, he allegedly disclosed to an unknown person his Singpass user ID and password in exchange for $500.
The teenager was at a UOB branch in Sengkang Square on Nov 3 last year when he allegedly engaged in a conspiracy with some unknown individuals to cheat the bank.
He allegedly deceived the bank into believing that he was the sole operator of an account for which he was applying.
As a result, the bank is said to have been duped into opening a personal saving account under his name.
After that, he is also said to have provided to an unknown person the access code and personal identification number of his account.
Between Dec 15 and 20 last year, the teenager allegedly abetted in a conspiracy with unknown people to facilitate unauthorised access to a bank computer.
Shahfiee was on Friday handed one charge each of cheating and an offence under the Computer Misuse Act.
He is accused of engaging in a conspiracy with an unknown person to cheat UOB and duping it into believing that he would be the sole operator of an account for which he was applying.
He is said to have committed the offence between February and March this year.
Kong now faces a charge under the Computer Misuse Act.
On July 3 last year, he allegedly disclosed to an unknown person his user ID and password for his Singpass account.
The trio's cases have been adjourned to next month.
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