Three men charged over giving control of their bank accounts to scam syndicates
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The trio are part of 17 people arrested by the police for their suspected involvement in various scams that led to more than $1.6 million in losses.
ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
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- Three men were charged on Nov 3 for allegedly providing bank accounts to scam syndicates. They are part of 17 people arrested in connection with scams causing over $1.6M in losses.
- The men face charges for unauthorised bank account access and helping retain crime benefits.
- Singapore lost $3.4b to scams since 2019, including a record $1.1b in 2024. Mules now typically get at least 6 months jail, with caning proposed.
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SINGAPORE – Three men have been charged after they gave control of their bank accounts to unknown people.
The accounts were allegedly used by syndicates to launder scam proceeds.
Muhammad Danish Aqid Azman, 21; Mohamed Rizan Abdul Majeed, 43; and Deebenraj M Sivakumar, 30, were charged on Nov 3.
The trio are part of 17 people arrested by the police for their suspected involvement in various scams
The 14 men and three women are aged between 17 and 45, with the remaining suspects expected to be charged between Nov 4 and 7.
The scams included government official impersonation, investments and fake buyers.
The trio were charged over both providing unauthorised access to a bank account and helping another person retain the benefits of crime, with Muhammad Danish Aqid handed an additional charge over cheating.
Both Muhammad Danish Aqid and Mohamed Rizan allegedly handed control of their bank accounts to unknown people in January, while Deebenraj did so in October 2024.
Court documents indicated that Deebenraj’s account was used to move almost $37,000 in illicit proceeds. The amounts involved in the accounts of the other two were not mentioned.
The court heard that Deebenraj intends to plead guilty, while Muhammad Danish Aqid is expected to face more charges at a later date.
All three men were released on bail.
On Nov 2, the police said preliminary investigations found that the suspects had allegedly relinquished or sold their bank accounts and Singpass credentials, enabling criminal syndicates to launder illicit proceeds.
They will face restrictions on access to certain banking services that could be used to move scam proceeds. These include digital and mobile banking, card-based transactions and ATM services.
Singapore has lost more than $3.4 billion to scams since 2019.
Victims here lost a record $1.1 billion in 2024 more than $600 million
Currently, the maximum sentence for those who allow their bank accounts or Singpass credentials to be used in facilitating scams is three years’ jail and a $50,000 fine.
Such mules now typically get jailed for at least six months, following recommendations from an advisory panel in August 2024
In October, it was proposed in Parliament that discretionary caning be introduced
