SINGAPORE - A group of four men hatched a plot last year to cheat a Bangladeshi national entrusted with others' remittance money, including having one of them impersonate an officer from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

The scam was successful, with the group making off with nearly $140,000 in cash and jewellery.

However, they were eventually arrested, with three of them - Islam Md Nurul, 33, Sofian Abu, 38, and Babul Md, 35 - each jailed for 12 months by District Judge Jasvender Kaur on Friday (June 5).

The trio, who are also Bangladeshis, had pleaded guilty to cheating by abetment last month.

One other cheating-related charge was taken into consideration by District Judge Kaur when sentencing each of them on Friday.

The case against the last member of the group, 29-year-old Singaporean Ang Zhao Hong, is still pending.

Some time in November last year, Babul learnt that a Bangladeshi, identified only as Suman, 45, was involved in collecting remittance money and kept a large amount of the money in his room.

The remittance money was intended by Bangladeshis, who were not identified in court documents, to be transferred to their families in their home country.

Babul relayed the information to Islam and Sofian. Ang subsequently learnt about it as well.

The group then plotted to cheat the remittance money from Suman.

Babul subsequently identified the room where Suman kept the money- on the fourth level of Zaman Centre in Roberts Lane.

At 12.30am on Nov 11 last year, Ang entered the room, which was occupied by Suman and his friends. Court documents did not state who Suman's friends were.

Sofian was acting as a lookout outside the room, while Islam and Babul were waiting by the roadside outside Zaman Centre.

Identifying himself as a police officer from CID, Ang told Suman and his friends that the police were coming and they were not to move.

He then ordered Suman to open the safe boxes in the room.

In the boxes were a bag containing $118,000 and 350g of gold jewellery valued at $21,875, which Ang took before leaving.

The four accomplices regrouped at the ground level of Zaman Centre, and left in a rented van.

After Babul alighted, the remaining members of the group drove to Ang's residence, where Ang handed Islam and Sofian the jewellery as payment for their assistance.

Islam then pawned part of the jewellery for $5,000, which he remitted to his brother in Bangladesh.

All the jewellery as well as$88,770 in cash have since been recovered by the police.

Babul's lawyer, Mr A. Revi Shanker, said in mitigation that his client played a limited role in cheating Suman, and did not benefit from it.

District Judge Kaur disagreed, saying the trio had specific roles and that she found their culpability to be identical.

For their offence, each of them could have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined.