Man allegedly linked to scam charged with facilitating collection of gold items worth over $654k
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On March 24, Ng Kim Boy was charged with helping other unnamed parties retain the benefits of criminal conduct.
ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
SINGAPORE – A man allegedly linked to a government official impersonation scam is accused of facilitating the collection of 8.6kg of gold items worth more than $654,000.
On March 24, Ng Kim Boy, 23, was charged with helping other unnamed parties retain the benefits of criminal conduct.
According to court documents, the Singaporean allegedly engaged in a conspiracy with several unknown people on March 20.
In a statement, the police said officers had earlier received a report from a 62-year-old woman who had received calls from unknown people claiming to be from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and telecommunications firm M1.
The woman was told that she had a $350 bill that was overdue, and that the amount could not be deducted from her bank account.
A police spokesperson added: “The conversation continued via WhatsApp, where the victim was told that there were further purchases of iPhone 17 Pro Max, Apple Watch Ultra and Apple Watch made using her accounts, which were delivered to an address in Bukit Batok.
“When the victim stated that she was not familiar with the address and sought to cancel the transactions, she was referred to an investigation officer purportedly from MAS.”
The supposed officer then claimed that the woman was involved in a money-laundering case and instructed her to declare all her valuables.
She complied, and after making the declaration, which included the 8.6kg of gold items, the woman was told to deliver the gold to him for an “inspection to prove her innocence”.
She was told to put the gold items in a bag and head to an area near the MAS Building in Shenton Way, where the purported officer would verify his identity by using a codeword.
Court documents and the police did not disclose details about the gold items she owned.
Upon arrival, an unknown man approached the woman’s car, uttered the codeword, and left after taking the bag.
Sensing that something was amiss, the woman alighted from her car and checked with a security guard at the building, who confirmed that the man was not affiliated with MAS.
She alerted the police after realising she might have been scammed.
On March 24, Ng was ordered to be remanded at the Central Police Division, and his case will be mentioned again in court on March 31.
