Jail for man who collected over $40,000 from 2 victims for a crime syndicate

Two women who lost over $190,000 in cash and valuables in government official impersonation scams were duped into handing more than $40,000 of the amount to a man working for the syndicate behind the con job.

In exchange for RM500 (S$158) a day, Tharaneswaran Krishna, 22, followed instructions from members of a Telegram group linked to the syndicate to collect the scam proceeds from the two victims.

Court documents did not disclose what happened to the rest of the women’s money, and they have not recovered their losses.

On Dec 29, Tharaneswaran was sentenced to two years and two months’ jail after he pleaded guilty to one count of dealing with the benefits of criminal conduct.

Court documents stated that the Malaysian offender’s distant relative had introduced him to a job in Singapore in October.

As part of the job, he had to follow real-time instructions from unknown people in a Telegram group.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Daniel Foo said the group was part of a syndicate that cheated victims in Singapore through government official impersonation scams.

Tharaneswaran was also provided with items including a mobile phone and some cash for the job.

On Oct 30, one of the victims, a 63-year-old woman, received a call from an unknown person claiming to be from UnionPay – a Chinese state-owned financial services corporation. The caller told her that she had an expiring insurance policy, and that she needed to call another mobile phone number to cancel it.

As the woman had not purchased such a policy, she called the mobile phone number that was given to her.

A person who took the call then told her to contact the “Monetary Authority of Singapore” (MAS) at another mobile phone number.

The woman did as she was told and spoke to one “Marko Lim”, who was purportedly from MAS.

He told her that she was being investigated for money laundering, and that she had to surrender her assets to “assist with investigations”.

After that, “Marko Lim” told her to withdraw cash from her bank account and pass the money to an individual who would meet her near her home.

He further instructed the woman to verify the individual’s identity by stating a certain three-digit code when she met him.

On the morning of Nov 6, Tharaneswaran entered Singapore for the sole purpose of carrying out the instructions given to him via the Telegram group.

The DPP said: “The accused did so despite having reason to believe that the instructions... were linked to criminal activities, as he was asked to delete all photographs shared on the Telegram group.

“The accused had further been informed that the Telegram group would be deleted if they were caught by the police or immigration authorities.”

Shortly before 12.30pm that day, the woman withdrew $30,000 in cash from her bank account, and slipped the money into a white envelope.

After that, she went to Block 234A Sumang Lane in Punggol and met Tharaneswaran.

She told him the three-digit code and passed the envelope to him.

Tharaneswaran then took a private-hire car to New World Centre shopping mall in Jalan Berseh, near Little India, and handed the envelope of cash to an unknown person.

In the other case, an unknown person who claimed to be from the Ministry of Law contacted the second victim, a 65-year-old woman, on Nov 6.

The person informed her that she was “under investigation for money laundering offences” as someone had purportedly misused her identity to apply for a credit card.

The person then instructed her to buy gold and hand over all her jewellery “for the purpose of investigations”.

Believing the lies, the second victim went to Causeway Point mall in Woodlands, and bought four gold bars worth over $10,000 in total.

Taking instructions from members of the Telegram group, Tharaneswaran went to Block 735 Woodlands Circle shortly before 7pm and met the second victim.

She passed him the gold bars after he confirmed her name and identity card number.

The prosecutor said: “He subsequently received instructions to board a car, which drove him to Permas Jaya, Malaysia.

“The accused was further instructed to hide the gold from immigration officers at Woodlands Checkpoint, and that if he was caught, he should either disclaim or throw away the bags of gold bars before running away.”

Tharaneswaran reached Permas Jaya in Johor and handed the gold bars to an unknown person.

The first victim and the second woman’s son alerted the police on Nov 6.

Investigations revealed that the first victim had been scammed out of a total of $140,000 in cash and jewellery, while the second victim lost multiple pieces of jewellery and gold bars worth over $50,000 in total to the swindlers.

The offender, who had not received any of the money he was promised for working for the syndicate, returned to Singapore on Nov 7 and 8 to await further instructions from the Telegram group.

When none was given, he attempted to return to Malaysia on Nov 8 but was arrested at the Woodlands Checkpoint.

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

ADV: [Synchronous e-Learning] Drafting Clearer Contracts The risk of lending money to relatives and friends