SINGAPORE: Two men who worked for a transnational syndicate linked to government official impersonation scams have been handed jail sentences for handling the ill-gotten gains.
After withdrawing more than S$770,000 in scam benefits from ATMs, Chang Yang, 23, was sentenced to four years and four months’ jail on Friday (March 6).
Ivan Thong Yoong Khean, 27, who took out nearly $660,000, was ordered to spend four years behind bars.
Both men are Malaysians.
The scams involved multiple vulnerable and elderly victims, and the two offenders each pleaded guilty in February to one count of engaging in a conspiracy to handle the benefits of other unknown individuals’ criminal conduct involving more than $403,000 in total.
Each man had other charges that were considered during sentencing, including those relating to the remaining amounts.
The men had retained up to $600 each time they withdrew the ill-gotten gains.
The court heard that Chang earned around RM50,000 (S$16,100) in total, while Thong made approximately RM10,000.
In earlier proceedings, Deputy Public Prosecutor Karl Tan said that in September 2023, Thong took a loan involving an undisclosed amount from an acquaintance as he needed money urgently.
Thong wanted to begin repayments in February 2024 but was unable to do so.
The unnamed acquaintance then suggested a “job opportunity” to him, which included tasks like withdrawing cash from ATMs in Singapore.
Thong agreed to take on the job, and was added to two group chats on messaging platform Telegram.
Separately, Chang borrowed around RM100,000 from an unknown person, who said that he could pay off the debt by following instructions in the same group chats.
This individual then added Chang to them in May 2024.
The two men would receive instructions in one of the group chats after they entered Singapore.
They were told how much to withdraw, which ATM cards to use, and the one-time password for each card, if necessary.
At times, these cards were retrieved from a locker at a shopping mall near Orchard Road.
There were also instances when a delivery driver would hand the cards to Chang and Thong.
The location of the withdrawals was left to the pair’s discretion, the court heard.
On 24 occasions between May and December 2024, the men withdrew more than $403,000 in total from ATMs at places including Orchard Road, Tiong Bahru and Punggol.
After taking their cut, Thong would pass the remaining money to a third party.
There were also times when Chang would take the cash back to Malaysia.
Court documents did not disclose how the offences came to light, but the pair were arrested in Orchard Road on Dec 5, 2024. - The Straits Times/ANN
