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SINGAPORE \u2013 A Singaporean man who invested $25,000 in a syndicate that sold anonymous accounts on messaging platforms to scammers had his jail sentence increased to four years, four months and two weeks on April 29. <\/p>\n
Tan Shay Howe, 48, was originally sentenced by a district judge in August 2025 to a jail term of 3\u00bd\u00a0years and two weeks, and a fine of $11,000.<\/p>\n
He had pleaded guilty to a charge of being a member of a locally linked organised criminal group under the Organised Crime Act (OCA) and two charges for engaging in a conspiracy to launder the syndicate\u2019s criminal benefits.<\/p>\n
A High Court panel of three judges increased Tan\u2019s jail term by 10 months following an appeal by the prosecution on the two laundering charges.<\/p>\n
The $11,000 fine, which was part of the sentence for the OCA charge, remained the same as there was no appeal in respect of this charge.<\/p>\n
The court said in its judgment that the sentence it imposed properly reflects the need to deter the facilitation of scams, which has been a scourge on society.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe agree with the prosecution that the syndicate played a crucial role in facilitating a large number of reported scams against Singaporeans which resulted in a staggering amount of losses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Between November 2023 and May 2024, the syndicate generated more than $887,000 in profits from selling WhatsApp and WeChat accounts to customers who were mostly based overseas, in countries including Malaysia, Myanmar and Cambodia.<\/p>\n
These anonymous accounts were set up using pre-registered SIM cards. <\/p>\n
SIM cards seized by the police were linked to more than 2,300 police reports on a variety of scams between January 2024 and May 2024, with a total reported loss of $51 million. <\/p>\n
Tan, a car mechanic, is the first member of the syndicate to be sentenced. The cases against the others, who are all Singaporeans, are pending in court. <\/p>\n
The other alleged members are Alvin Kok Jun Keat, 31; Ryle Low, 26; Ronnie Low, 49; Aaron Oh Xiang Wen, 27; Royston Ng Mingyang, 31; and Bervis Yon Kai Chin, 27.<\/p>\n
According to court documents, in mid-2022, Kok came across a device known as an \u201cSMS modem\u201d which is capable of receiving multiple SMS messages sent to pre-registered SIM cards inserted into the device. <\/p>\n
Kok allegedly came up with a business plan to set up anonymous accounts on WhatsApp and WeChat, using pre-registered SIM cards and activating these accounts through the one-time passwords (OTPs) received via SMS through the modem. <\/p>\n
A customer would be provided with a mobile number from the pre-registered SIM card, which would be used to create an anonymous account with the messaging platform. <\/p>\n
The messaging platform would then generate an OTP, which would be received by the pre-registered SIM card in the modem and conveyed subsequently to the customer.<\/p>\n
The customers paid in cryptocurrency, which was subsequently encashed.<\/p>\n
Around December 2022, Tan, who is an acquaintance of Kok, learnt that he was doing some illegal business.<\/p>\n
In October 2023, Kok allegedly asked Tan to convince Ronnie Low, who is the latter\u2019s close friend, to invest $100,000 in the business for a 51 per cent share of the profits. <\/p>\n
As Ronnie Low lacked sufficient funds, Tan pumped in $25,000. Ronnie Low\u2019s nephew Ryle also allegedly started working for the syndicate.<\/p>\n
In early 2024, as Kok and Ryle Low did not get along, Tan agreed \u201cto take over the business\u201d and pay Kok $10,000 every month as compensation. <\/p>\n
In March 2024, Tan suggested moving the operations into an empty office space above the motor workshop run by his son. Tan charged $3,000 every month for the use of the office space.<\/p>\n
On May 29, 2024, the Anti-Scam Command, a\u00a0police unit specialised in combating scams, raided the premises and seized 24,000 pre-paid SIM cards, 27 SMS modems, seven monitor screens, seven mobile phones and seven central processing units.<\/p>\n
The prosecution\u2019s appeal was heard on Feb 5 before Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, Justice Tay Yong Kwang and Justice See Kee Oon.<\/p>\n
In its written judgment on April 29, the court adopted a sentencing framework that was set out in 2019 for the offence of laundering another person\u2019s benefits from criminal conduct.<\/p>\n
The court said this framework is also suitable for the offence in the current case of laundering one\u2019s own benefits from criminal conduct, or \u201cself-laundering\u201d.<\/p>\n
The two offences carry a fine of up $500,000, a jail term of up to 10 years or both. <\/p>\n
The court assessed that the level of harm caused by Tan\u2019s offences was moderate, while the level of his culpability was low for one charge and medium for the other charge.<\/p>\n
The judges considered that the charges involved significant sums and involved the serious offence of being part of an organised criminal group that facilitated scams.<\/p>\n
Tan\u2019s role as a financier, an \u201cowner\u201d of the business from February 2024 and a landlord beginning in March 2024, elevated him to be a key member of the enterprise, said the court.<\/p>\n
The court also considered that there was significant planning and premeditation, and that the criminal benefits were acquired in the form of cryptocurrency, making the transactions difficult to trace. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n