Teen admits registering 25 SIM cards in exchange for money; 2 scam victims lost S$35,000

Ritzwandy was unrepresented.

JUDGE TALKS TO ACCUSED

When District Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan asked Ritzwandy why he registered so many SIM cards, he responded that he was “lazy to work” and was influenced by his friends.

“Easy money, right?” asked the judge.

“Yes,” replied Ritzwandy. “I am sincerely sorry and I know I wouldn’t do this anymore. Plus, I wouldn’t scam anyone, because the current course I am taking right now is cyber security and I know the consequences of scamming and hacking.”

In response, Judge Shaiffudin said the offences were committed in January and February this year.

“So during these times, you would have read in the social media, in the mass media, about scam-related offences, the dangers of scam-related offences and all the consequences right? … People losing their life savings? Tens of hundreds, hundreds of thousands of dollars through these – and you know that people use not just bank accounts and also SIM cards, you know all that, right?” asked the judge.

Ritzwandy agreed.

“Yeah, but at that point in time, my friends told me that I’m not going to get caught or anything,” he said.

“Right, so you were influenced by your friends, despite knowing what you were doing, (and that) these SIM cards … would allow scammers to proceed with their scamming activities?” probed the judge.

“Yes,” answered Ritzwandy.

“See, that’s the whole reason why the government is clamping down on these (offences),” said Judge Shaiffudin.

“It’s a very serious offence. People don’t seem to understand, or they just don’t want or refuse to understand. Without these SIM cards, the scammers … will not have the facility to proceed to scam other people. People tend to say – but I didn’t really scam them. No, I disagree. By doing this, you are assisting to scam people,” he continued.

“Back then I didn’t know,” answered Ritzwandy.

“But you said you read reports?” said the judge. “They even composed a song about scams … we hear it on the radio every now and then.”

He concluded that these offences are serious and have to be nipped in the bud.

“I see no exceptional circumstances in your case to call for a probation report,” said Judge Shaiffudin.

He called only for a report assessing Ritzwandy’s suitability for reformative training and adjourned sentencing to January.

For providing SIM cards for the commission of an offence, a person can be jailed for up to three years, fined up to S$10,000, or both.