SINGAPORE – Two Malaysians have been arrested here for their suspected roles in a scam involving the impersonation of government officials.
This brings the total number of Malaysians arrested in Singapore since March for helping scam syndicates to collect valuables to 19, the police said in a statement on April 28.
The latest suspects, a 27-year-old man and a 34-year-old woman, are believed to be linked to the same scam syndicate. They are expected to be charged on April 29 with the offence of assisting another to retain benefits from criminal conduct.
The police said they received information on April 27 that the Malaysian man had entered Singapore on a suspected assignment arranged by scam syndicates to collect cash and gold bars from a victim.
Officers from the Anti-Scam Command arrested the man within four hours of the operation, when he was allegedly on his way to collect around $100,000 worth of gold bars from a 71-year-old victim.
The victim had received a call from an unknown person claiming to be from Simba Telecom, said the police. The caller informed the victim that his particulars had been misused to open a bank account that was involved in receiving criminal proceeds.
When the victim denied having signed up for such a bank account, the call was transferred to scammers who said they were representatives of the Ministry of Law. They led him to believe that he was under investigation for money laundering offences, added the police.
