Jail, caning for man who gave Singpass and bank details to ‘Devil’, committed theft and drug offences
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SINGAPORE – He handed over his Singpass and banking details to people he knew only as “Devil” and “Malcolm”, which led to the facilitation of scams involving some $2.6 million.
On Sept 10, Yeh Chia Wei, 28, was sentenced to seven years and seven months’ jail, an enhanced sentence of 566 days’ jail, and six strokes of the cane.
He was also involved in the possession and consumption of drugs, as well as in a spate of milk powder shoplifting cases.
In total, he pleaded guilty to eight charges – two for failing to exercise reasonable diligence in the discharge of his duties as a company director and for setting up a company and bank account for criminal activity; three for theft in dwelling; and three that are related to drugs.
Another 15 charges for theft in dwelling, unauthorised access to computer material and possession of drug utensils were also taken into consideration for sentencing.
According to court documents, Yeh had given his Singpass and banking details to people he knew as “Devil” and “Malcolm”.
These details were then used to start two companies, Greenhill Rhino International and Gold Merlin Global, and to open bank accounts.
The police said that Greenhill Rhino’s bank account received about $2.6 million from an overseas e-mail impersonation scam in December 2021. Most of the funds have disappeared.
Separately, Gold Merlin’s bank account was the intended beneficiary of an overseas investment scam.
But the scam was uncovered before the victim transferred any money, said the police.
Yeh was also involved in a spate of shoplifting cases in November and December 2021, stealing dozens of tins of milk powder.
He was also found to have possessed and consumed methamphetamine, and failed to turn up for urine tests several times in September 2023.
Several of his offences had been committed while he was under a remission order from Oct 1, 2021, to June 28, 2023.
For facilitating the laundering of scam monies, Yeh could have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined up to $500,000.
The police said scams are a major crime concern and that they “will not hesitate to take stern enforcement actions against any individuals who commit these offences and persons who facilitate them by knowingly allowing their bank accounts to be used by scammers to receive monies, hide their tracks, and launder the proceeds of crime”.
