Caning scammers: Up to 24 strokes for syndicate members, recruiters; maximum 12 strokes for mules

SINGAPORE – With billions lost to scams in Singapore in recent years, the country plans to cane scammers and mules under newly proposed laws to tackle the scourge.

Scammers, and members and recruiters of scam syndicates, are set to face mandatory caning of at least six strokes. This can go up to 24 strokes depending on the severity of the offence.

The Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill, which was introduced in Parliament on Oct 14, also proposes discretionary caning of up to 12 strokes for scam mules, such as those who provide their Singpass credentials, SIM cards or bank accounts to be used in scams.

This means the courts can decide during sentencing if caning is needed.

The Bill also makes amendments to several existing laws and introduces other revisions to caning penalties.

During the debate over the Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA) budget in March, then Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling said

as punishment for some scam-related offences.

Singapore has lost more than $3.4 billion to scams since 2019. Victims here

, and have lost

as of end August.

MHA said fighting scams continues to be a top national priority, with the cases and amounts lost remaining a concern.

The Bill also proposes discretionary caning for other forms of cheating, like traditional fraud.

Currently, those convicted of cheating can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined, but not caned.

Other key amendments in the Bill include those relating to sexual offences, the fatal abuse of vulnerable victims, doxxing of public servants, punishment for youth offenders and obligations on dealers of precious metals.

There are currently 161 offences that attract caning, of which 65 mandate it.

MHA said it has reviewed these offences and proposes removing caning as a penalty or making it discretionary for 22 of the offences.

Offences that it proposes removing caning for include blocking carriages and endangering the safety of passengers under the Railways Act, as the offence is no longer of significant public concern.

Caning will also be made discretionary for offences like extortion and carrying offensive weapons in public.

For sexual offences, the Bill will ensure that consensual sexting between adults is not criminalised.

It also aims to extend enhanced penalties for obscene objects depicting minors below the age of 18, up from the current age of 16.

MHA said in light of technological advances such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Bill will include definitions to make it a clear offence to generate deepfake and AI porn of children and non-consenting persons.

In practice, there is no gap in the law, as those who make such images will be caught under the existing offences, and the change is for clarity, it said.

But because sexual content can now be transmitted to the masses quicker, the Bill proposes a new offence.

It will target those who set up or manage online locations, like group chats and websites, to allow such large-scale circulation.

It also proposes enhancing penalties for the circulation of obscene objects to 10 or more persons, which is considered large-scale circulation.

In the case of the

that was created in November 2018, obscene photos and videos of Singaporean women were shared with some 44,000 members.

Four men were dealt with over the group, including two members who were placed on probation.

The two others were administrators. One was sentenced to mandatory treatment for a year, while the other was jailed for nine weeks and fined $26,000.

MHA said the current penalties for the offence relating to obscene objects under the Penal Code are inadequate to deal with such egregious cases.

Those convicted under the offence currently face a maximum of three months’ jail and a fine, or two years’ jail and a fine if the content depicts a minor under 16.

Under the newly proposed laws, those convicted of large-scale electronic circulation of obscene material can be jailed for up to two years and fined.

The maximum jail term will be doubled to four years if the obscene material depicts anyone below 18.

Those who set up or manage the online channels by which obscene material is circulated on a large-scale can be jailed for up to five years and fined.

The maximum jail term will be increased to seven years if such material depicts anyone below 18.

Another proposed change relates to sexual grooming offences under the Penal Code, which currently do not apply if the offender and victim intend to meet overseas to carry out the sexual act.

The changes to the law will mean that if the offender and victim meet or plan to meet overseas for sex, and they had travelled from Singapore, then that intended sex act would have been considered to have been committed in the Republic.

The extraterritorial reach is similar to that for drug offences, with offenders to be treated as though the offence was committed in Singapore.

Maximum jail terms for the sexual grooming offences will also increase, to seven years’ jail if the victim is under 14, from the current four years’ jail.

If the victim is aged 14 to 17, the Bill proposes an increase to a maximum of five years’ jail, from the current three years.

Other proposed amendments include increasing the jail term for the fatal abuse of vulnerable victims to life imprisonment or up to 30 years. The current maximum is 20 years’ jail.

MHA also wants to protect public servants from doxxing, and proposes amending the law to remove the need to prove that he or she suffered harassment, so long as the offender had the intention to harass.

It further proposes criminalising the doxxing of a public servant when accompanied by a falsehood, with offenders to be jailed for up to three years and fined up to $10,000.

For youth offenders, the Bill proposes allowing cases involving older youths who are repeat offenders, or who commit certain serious crimes, to be transferred to the State Courts or High Court instead of the Youth Courts.

This is so that deterrent sentences such as imprisonment, reformative training and caning can be imposed where appropriate, said MHA.

Regulatory requirements for workers and dealers in precious metals will be updated under the Bill, increasing the waiting time from three days to five days before these individuals can melt, alter or deface such goods or articles.

MHA said this will better meet law enforcement needs while managing the compliance burden on the industry.

It added the registration requirements for such dealers under the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act are obsolete, and will be repealed if the Bill is passed.

MHA said the Government regularly reviews and updates the criminal laws to ensure they remain effective and fair, while being responsive to emerging challenges.

It said: “We are determined to maintain a safe and secure Singapore, where people have confidence in our criminal justice system, and where criminals have no refuge and are deterred from committing crime.”