Two men to be charged over allegedly scamming victims by impersonating government officials
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The men, aged 30 and 37, are believed to be accomplices to a scam syndicate.
ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
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SINGAPORE - Two men will be charged in court on July 30 over allegedly scamming victims of money by impersonating government officials.
The men, aged 30 and 37, are believed to be accomplices of a scam syndicate, said the police on July 29. They were arrested on July 28.
The police were first alerted to a case on May 17 in which a victim lost more than $43,000 to the 30-year-old man.
The man, who said he was from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, told the victim that she had been implicated in an offence and had to hand the money over for investigative purposes.
Preliminary investigations showed that the scammer collected the money on behalf of a syndicate and handed it over to an unknown person.
On a separate occasion, he had also collected $47,000 in cash from another victim and passed the money to the 37-year-old man. The cash was recovered when the pair were arrested.
The police believe that the men are involved in other similar cases.
The duo will be charged with the offence of abetment by conspiracy to assist another to retain benefits from criminal conduct.
If found guilty, they may be jailed for up to 10 years, fined up to $500,000, or both.
The police said they take a serious stance against those involved in scams, and will punish perpetrators according to the law, and reminded the public to never transfer money or any valuables to people not known to them.
