Pair allegedly linked to scams charged over handling of ill-gotten gains worth over $236k in total

SINGAPORE - Two men allegedly linked to government official impersonation scams were each handed one charge on Feb 6 over the handling of purported ill-gotten gains worth more than $236,000 in total.

The alleged offences of Boo-Koh Kang Xin, 20, and Ang Yu Shan, 22, were said to involve the benefits of other people’s criminal conduct.

Ang, a Malaysian, is accused of engaging in a conspiracy with other unknown individuals to collect cash and jewellery worth more than $99,000 in total between Jan 26 and Feb 4.

In a statement on Feb 5, the police said that officers had earlier received a report from an elderly woman that she had received a call from somebody claiming to be from a bank.

The caller alleged that her Singpass had been misused to apply for a credit card from the bank and unauthorised transactions were made later.

When the woman denied having such a card, the call was transferred to another person purporting to be from Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

A police spokesperson added: “She was told that she was under investigation for a $2.5 million money laundering case, and was instructed to hand over her available cash, watches and jewellery to an ‘investigation officer’. The jewellery was worth more than $90,000.”

According to the police, the woman then placed her valuables in a bag and handed it to Ang in Bishan Street 12.

After that, the caller told her to withdraw her fixed deposit and transfer the funds to another bank account.

The woman’s son managed to intervene in time, preventing the transfer’s completion.

On Feb 4, officers received a report from a second woman, whose experience was largely similar to that of the first woman.

The second woman subsequently handed over her jewellery and valuables worth around $63,000 to Ang in Seletar, said the police.

She was later asked to provide details of her bank accounts.

She was also told to consolidate her funds into a single account so that they could be transferred to an unknown account for “investigation purposes”.

Sensing something was amiss, she alerted the police, and the transfer was aborted.

Officers from the Anti-Scam Command and Tanglin Police Division managed to identify Ang, who was arrested at the Woodlands Checkpoint while he was attempting to leave Singapore on Feb 4.

Valuables belonging to the second woman were found in his possession, said the police.

Separately, Boo-Koh, a Singaporean, is accused of engaging in a conspiracy with a person named Mohd Fadli Farhan Suhaidi, 32, and other unknown people to deal with the benefits of criminal conduct between October 2025 and January 2026.

According to court documents, Boo-Koh allegedly gave instructions to Fadli, who is a Malaysian, to collect cash and jewellery worth more than $137,000 in total. Fadli’s case is still pending.

For this case, police said in their statement that officers had received a report on Jan 23 after a woman got a call from person purporting to be from an insurance firm.

The police spokesperson said: “The caller claimed that the victim held multiple insurance policies. The call was transferred to an ‘MHA officer’ who told her that she was implicated in a money laundering case.

“As part of the ‘investigation’, the victim was instructed to hand over $10,000 to an ‘investigation officer’.”

The cash was later handed to Boo-Koh, said the police.

The authorities managed to identify him, and he was arrested at the Woodlands Checkpoint on Feb 4 while attempting to leave Singapore

The cases involving Ang and Boo-Koh have been adjourned to Feb 13.