Indian origin person among money mules involved in cheating in Singapore

Singpass is confidential and issued by the authority here.It was not stated in charge sheets how much Marcus Lim You Hwee received for his alleged actions.The offence of facilitating unauthorised access to computer material carries a jail term of up to two years, a fine or both.

An Indian-origin person was among seven persons charged in a court on Thursday over their suspected involvement in money mule activities, according to local media.

Indian origin Preeta Nivashani M Rechnam, 52; Chinese Edda Lin Wenqing, 19; Caleb Sho Khai Lok, 20; Marcus Lim You Hwee, 28, and Malay's Muhamad Farmirul Muhamad Farhan, 20, and Raza Iskandar Ashghar Masih, 35, have been charged for their suspected involvement in money mule activities, including cheating and facilitating unauthorised access to computer materials.

A report by The Straits Times on Wednesday quoting the police said that the accused individuals allegedly sold or rented their bank accounts to criminal syndicates for as much as SGD 3,000.

They are believed to have deceived banks into opening accounts before handing over the ATM cards and Internet banking PINs to criminal syndicates.

Marcus Lim You Hwee and Lim Kim Heng also allegedly sold their Singpass credentials to criminal syndicates to create new bank accounts.

According to court documents, Lim Kim Heng allegedly sold his Singpass information to an unknown person on messaging platform Telegram for SGD500. Singpass is confidential and issued by the authority here.

It was not stated in charge sheets how much Marcus Lim You Hwee received for his alleged actions.

The offence of facilitating unauthorised access to computer material carries a jail term of up to two years, a fine or both. Those convicted of cheating may be jailed for up to three years and fined.

The cases of the seven accused will be heard again in February.

The police said they take a serious view of these offences and will not hesitate to take action against individuals who may be involved in scams.

"To avoid being an accomplice to crime, members of the public should always reject seemingly attractive money-making opportunities promising pay-outs for the use of their Singpass account or bank accounts, or allow their personal bank account to be used to receive and transfer money for others," said the police.

Those found to be linked to such crimes will be held accountable, the police added.

In 2022, more than 7,800 people were nabbed for money mule offences.

Between January and June 2023, more than 4,700 people were arrested or investigated for being money mules.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)