SINGAPORE \u2013 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<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n Turah Raju Subramaniam, 39, told investigators he was promised $50 per job after an unnamed friend introduced him to job opportunities in Singapore.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n He was sentenced to three years and two months\u2019 jail on July 21 after pleading guilty to handling the benefits of criminal conduct.<\/p>\n The authorities have not recovered the gold bars and no restitution has been made to the victim, a 54-year-old Singaporean woman.<\/p>\n The victim had received a call from somebody claiming to be from a bank\u2019s anti-fraud department.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n This made her panic.<\/p>\n But she was told she could be protected under a \u201cpriority financial check\u201d to change her status from \u201csuspect\u201d to \u201cwitness\u201d, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Yohanes Ng.<\/p>\n She was then transferred to yet another person, who claimed to be a police officer.<\/p>\n The victim was told to transfer $1 million from her bank account to her credit card, which she did.<\/p>\n She was then instructed to use the card to buy 2kg of gold bars at Mustafa Centre department store in Little India to fulfil the \u201cpriority financial check requirements\u201d.<\/p>\n She was also told that a plainclothes officer named \u201cBala Krishnan\u201d bearing ID number BK 1505 would collect the gold bars from her.<\/p>\n The scammer then gave her the description of a man matching Turah.<\/p>\n She bought 1,600 gold bars worth over $412,000 from Mustafa Centre. The bars were then placed inside five bags.<\/p>\n On Nov 6, 2025, Turah took instructions in a Telegram group from unknown people and travelled to Singapore.<\/p>\n He took a taxi to Mustafa Centre and was told to meet an \u201cauntie\u201d at one of its entrances. He was also given a picture of her.<\/p>\n At around 10pm, Turah saw the victim pushing a trolley containing the five bags. He approached her and said: \u201cBala Krishnan BK 1505.\u201d<\/p>\n She passed the bags containing the gold bars to him, and he entered a pre-booked car at a nearby carpark.<\/p>\n The vehicle took him to Malaysia, where he handed the valuables to its driver.<\/p>\n In a statement in November 2025, the police said the victim later sensed that something was amiss and alerted the authorities.<\/p>\n Turah was arrested on Nov 8 that year when he tried to re-enter Singapore, and has been in remand since.<\/p>\n On July 21, the DPP asked the court to sentence him to up to three years and eight months\u2019 jail.<\/p>\n He said Turah was working for a criminal syndicate which arranged transport for him and instructed him effectively remotely.<\/p>\n Defence lawyer S.\u00a0Gogula Kannan said Turah regretted his actions and was a pawn in the grand scheme of things.<\/p>\n The number of scam cases fell from more than 50,000 in 2024 to 37,308 in 2025, the\u00a0police\u00a0said in their annual scam\u00a0statistics\u00a0in February<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n The amount lost to scammers also fell, from $1.1 billion in 2024 to $913.1 million in 2025.<\/p>\n