SINGAPORE – A full-time national serviceman with the Singapore Civil Defence Force was on probation over a Covid-19-related offence when he opened two bank accounts which others later used to receive money from scam victims.
Nor Syafie Ahmad, now 20, then unlawfully left Singapore by boat for Batam, Indonesia, in May 2021 to avoid conviction.
On Jan 11, 2022, he surrendered to the authorities in Batam, and was sentenced to three months’ jail in Indonesia for entering the country illegally.
He later returned to Singapore and was ordered to undergo reformative training for at least a year from May 18, 2022, after he breached his probation.
He is now undergoing reformative training at Tanah Merah Prison, where he must follow a strict regimen that can include foot drills and counselling.
On Wednesday, Nor, who appeared in court via video link, pleaded guilty to several charges, including that of being part of a conspiracy to cheat OCBC Bank and failing to report for his national service duty by being absent from May 2, 2021, to Jan 10, 2022.
He had borrowed an undisclosed sum of money from a loan shark some time between 2020 and 2021, which he could not repay, said the prosecution.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Jason Chua said: “The unlicensed moneylender gave the accused two choices to settle his debt. He could either harass debtors or open a bank account and relinquish it to the unlicensed moneylender. The accused chose the latter option.”
On Feb 10, 2021, the…
