SINGAPORE – A man who was allegedly involved in scams that duped more than 50 victims of over $3.7 million was arrested in Johor in a joint operation by Malaysia and Singapore.
The 33-year-old Singaporean, who was handed over to the Singapore police on Thursday, will be charged on Friday with cheating and abetting by intentionally aiding unknown persons to illegally get access to a program hosted in the server of a bank.
The police said on Thursday that the joint operation by Singapore’s Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) and the Johor Commercial Crime Investigation Department of the Royal Malaysia Police has crippled a transnational scam syndicate allegedly involved in money laundering activities.
The two forces shared intelligence and information based on findings from reported scam cases since July, and a criminal syndicate’s money laundering cell operating in Johor was identified, they added.
On Nov 7, the Malaysian police raided an apartment complex in Johor and arrested the 33-year-old man for his suspected involvement in managing cross-border money transfers.
He is believed to be responsible for laundering the criminal proceeds linked to various investment scams, job scams, fake friend impersonation scams, government official impersonation scams and loan scams.
The police said the suspect is believed to have procured Singapore bank accounts through various chat platforms such as Telegram and Facebook, and the accounts were subsequently used to launder the…
