SINGAPORE – Working as a runner for a crime syndicate, a Malaysian man travelled to Singapore and collected 1,600 gold bars worth over $412,000 from a scam victim.
Turah Raju Subramaniam, 39, told investigators he was promised $50 per job after an unnamed friend introduced him to job opportunities in Singapore.
Turah also said he was handed RM1,600 (S$500) for food and transport expenses, and this amount was meant to be split with the friend.
He was sentenced to three years and two months’ jail on July 21 after pleading guilty to handling the benefits of criminal conduct.
The authorities have not recovered the gold bars and no restitution has been made to the victim, a 54-year-old Singaporean woman.
The victim had received a call from somebody claiming to be from a bank’s anti-fraud department.
The caller told her she was a victim of an identity theft linked to $5,400 in fraudulent transactions. According to the caller, the matter had to be escalated to the Ministry of Law, which could help her lodge a police report.
She was transferred to another person, who pretended to be a senior investigating officer from the ministry, and was told she was a suspect in a money-laundering case.
Next, she received several documents which purported to show she was under a warrant of arrest and there was an order to freeze her assets.
This made her panic.
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