Jail for foreign student who sold bank account used in recent spate of bulk order scams

A foreign student, who sold her bank account, which was later used by criminals to receive money from a bulk order scam victim, has been sentenced to three months and two weeks’ jail.

The victim was the owner of Karu’s Indian Banana Leaf Restaurant, who fell for a scam involving biryani meals ordered by a man from “Stagmont Camp”.

On Oct 1, Sri Lankan national Rajadi Rajasinghe Manamendra Patabadilage Vishwa Madavi, 22, pleaded guilty to one charge under the Computer Misuse Act.

She was also ordered to pay a fine of $1,100, failing which she will serve three more days in jail.

Rajadi’s conviction marks the first prosecution related to the recent spate of bulk order scams, which have been in the news after several businesses fell prey to them.

Since May, the police have received at least 45 reports of bulk order scams, signalling the return of such cases, said Minister of State for Home Affairs Goh Pei Ming in Parliament on Sept 26.

Mr Goh added that scammers have been impersonating Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) personnel or school teachers. As at Sept 19, six suspects linked to such scams have been arrested.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Lim Li Ting told the court that on Sept 2, the owner of Karu’s Indian Banana Leaf Restaurant received a phone call from someone who said he was “Marcus”.

The caller claimed to be from Stagmont Camp, a military base in Choa Chu Kang, and ordered 150 biryani meals costing $2,325.

“Marcus” said he would personally collect them on Sept 4 and make payment then. The restaurant owner accepted the order.

But on Sept 4, “Marcus” requested the restaurant owner to purchase 40 ready-to-eat meals from another distributor on his behalf.

He claimed he needed help as there was a lengthy process to obtain approval to purchase such meals directly, and promised to pay the owner for all his purchases upon collection.

The owner believed him and paid $8,000 for the ready-to-eat meals. Subsequently, he also agreed to a second request to order 80 more such meals and paid another $16,000.

At about 5pm that day, “Marcus” made a similar request again. But the owner suspected he had fallen for a scam and alerted the police.

Of the money the owner had paid, $16,000 was transferred to Rajadi’s bank account. Court documents did not state where the rest of the money was transferred to.

Separately, on Sept 4, another woman transferred $1,980 to Rajadi’s bank account after receiving a purported WhatsApp message from her cousin requesting a loan.

The woman realised she was scammed when her cousin contacted her to tell her that the WhatsApp account had been compromised.

DPP Lim said Rajadi sold her bank account to an unknown person purportedly from Sri Lanka in early September after she faced financial difficulties.

Rajadi did not check what her bank account was to be used for, and received $1,100 for the transaction.

A total of $30,356 was deposited in Rajadi’s bank account, including the sums lost by the scam victims, and $30,313 was withdrawn without her knowledge. The police froze the account on Sept 4.

DPP Lim said handing over bank accounts is a serious offence and called for a jail term, citing an August 2024 sentencing guideline for scam-related offences.

Close to half a billion dollars was lost to scams in the first half of 2025, with almost 20,000 cases reported in Singapore. 

In 2024, scam victims here lost $1.1 billion, a record high in a single year.

The prosecutor said offenders like Rajadi are a critical component allowing sophisticated organised criminal groups to commit scams.

DPP Lim said: “Preventing scammers from using these accounts is an essential part in our fight against scams.”

Rajadi, who did not have a lawyer, said through a Sinhalese interpreter that she was sorry for her actions.

“At the time... I did not know the gravity of this offence. I came here to study, I’ve disappointed my mother,” she said.

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

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