Man charged with cheating allegedly linked to syndicate that operated devices to make scam calls
Man charged with cheating allegedly linked to syndicate that operated devices to make scam calls
SINGAPORE - A man allegedly worked with others to dupe Singapore residents into delivering undisclosed items to third parties, after believing that the Singapore Police Force was purportedly investigating their bank accounts.
Chong Wei Hao, 41, who is a Malaysian, was handed a cheating charge on July 1.
He is accused of committing the offence between March 30 and April 17.
Police said in a statement on June 30 that they had worked together with their Malaysian counterparts to disrupt a criminal syndicate that operated GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) devices to make scam calls in Singapore.
Chong was arrested in Malaysia on June 28 before he was handed over to the Singapore authorities.
According to preliminary investigations, he is believed to be involved in operating an advanced cloud-based remote operating system that enabled the syndicate to link to GSM mobile phone networks across jurisdictions.
'This arrangement allowed the syndicate to operate remotely and route fraudulent calls through local mobile phone networks, leading victims in Singapore to believe that they were receiving calls from within Singapore,' a police spokesperson said.
Chong's case will be mentioned again in court on July 8.
Offenders convicted of cheating can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined.
Shaffiq Alkhatib is The Straits Times' court correspondent, covering mainly criminal cases heard at the State Courts.
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