Malaysian man charged with involvement in government official impersonation scam
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Lim Zi Wei was handed one charge of abetment by conspiracy to assist another to retain benefits of criminal conduct.
PHOTO: ST FILE
SINGAPORE – A Malaysian man suspected to be involved in government official impersonation scams was charged in court on Nov 14.
Lim Zi Wei, 35, was handed one charge of abetment by conspiracy to assist another to retain benefits of criminal conduct.
This comes after the police said there has been a trend of Malaysian nationals travelling to Singapore to assist scam syndicates in collecting cash, gold and valuables from scam victims.
Charge sheets stated that Lim allegedly received $24,000 from two scam victims between Nov 10 and 12.
He is said to have received $9,000 in cash from one victim, who was duped into thinking she was under investigation by the Ministry of Law and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
He also allegedly collected $15,000 in cash from a second victim, who thought he was handing the money over to MAS for safekeeping.
Investigations showed Lim was tasked by members of a transnational scam syndicate to collect the cash from scam victims, said the police in a statement on Nov 13.
He would then hand over the money to the syndicate.
He was arrested when he tried to leave Singapore on Nov 12.
On Nov 14, the police prosecutor asked for him to be remanded for further investigations.
If convicted, Lim could face a jail term of up to 10 years, a fine of up to $500,000, or both.
On Nov 9, the police said they arrested two Malaysian men for their suspected roles in government official impersonation scams
One of them, a 38-year-old man, collected $412,000 worth of gold from a scam victim.
The other man, a 22-year-old, was involved in similar cases.
Both men were arrested on Nov 8 and were charged in court on Nov 10.
