SINGAPORE \u2013 Three men have been charged after they gave control of their bank accounts to unknown people.<\/p>\n
The accounts were allegedly used by syndicates to launder scam proceeds. <\/p>\n
Muhammad Danish Aqid Azman, 21; Mohamed Rizan Abdul Majeed, 43; and Deebenraj M Sivakumar, 30, were charged on Nov 3.<\/p>\n
The trio are part of 17 people arrested by the police for their <\/p>\n suspected involvement in various scams<\/p>\n <\/a> that led to more than $1.6 million in losses.<\/p>\n The 14 men and three women are aged between 17 and 45, with the remaining suspects expected to be charged between Nov 4 and 7.<\/p>\n The scams included government official impersonation, investments and fake buyers.<\/p>\n The trio were charged over both providing unauthorised access to a bank account and helping another person retain the benefits of crime, with Muhammad Danish Aqid handed an additional charge over cheating.<\/p>\n Both Muhammad Danish Aqid and Mohamed Rizan allegedly handed control of their bank accounts to unknown people in January, while Deebenraj did so in October 2024.<\/p>\n Court documents indicated that Deebenraj\u2019s account was used to move almost $37,000 in illicit proceeds. The amounts involved in the accounts of the other two were not mentioned.<\/p>\n The court heard that Deebenraj intends to plead guilty, while Muhammad Danish Aqid is expected to face more charges at a later date.<\/p>\n All three men were released on bail.<\/p>\n On Nov 2, the police said preliminary investigations found that the suspects had allegedly relinquished or sold their bank accounts and Singpass credentials, enabling criminal syndicates to launder illicit proceeds.<\/p>\n They will face restrictions on access to certain banking services that could be used to move scam proceeds. These include digital and mobile banking, card-based transactions and ATM services.<\/p>\n Singapore has lost more than $3.4 billion to scams since 2019. <\/p>\n Victims here\u00a0<\/p>\n lost a record $1.1 billion in 2024<\/p>\n <\/a> and have lost\u00a0<\/p>\n more than $600 million<\/p>\n <\/a>\u00a0from the start of 2025 to the end of August.<\/p>\n Currently, the maximum sentence for those who allow their bank accounts or Singpass credentials to be used in facilitating scams is three years\u2019 jail and a $50,000 fine.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/figure>\n Such mules now typically get jailed for at least six months, following <\/p>\n recommendations from an advisory panel in August 2024<\/p>\n <\/a>.<\/p>\n In October, it was proposed in Parliament that <\/p>\n discretionary caning be introduced<\/p>\n <\/a> for such mule offences, with a maximum of 12 strokes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/picture><\/div>\n