Latest news with #MAS
The Sun
3 hours ago
- Sport
- The Sun
Malaysia Aquatics targets heritage swimmers to boost national squad
MALAYSIA Aquatics (MAS) is intensifying efforts to scout heritage swimmers abroad, mirroring Singapore's approach to enhance the national team's competitiveness. MAS swimming chairman Marilyn Chua confirmed the initiative, revealing that the body has been in talks with Malaysian citizens overseas who possess potential. 'Yes, of course. We've several Malaysian citizens reached out to us over the past couple of years, which is very positive. So far, we have identified around five swimmers, aged between 14 to 19,' she said after the MAS Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the National Sports Council (MSN). Heritage athletes are not new in Malaysian sports, with football previously leveraging such talents. However, Marilyn, also MAS deputy president, stressed that selection is merit-based. 'Swimming is a very objective sport and we have time standards. So if they meet the time standards, which we have set for every competition, they thus qualify on merit and will be selected,' she explained. The AGM also saw Andy Low and Yan Kong Lee appointed as secretary-general and treasurer, respectively, while five committee members were elected.
Online Citizen
8 hours ago
- Online Citizen
Scammers impersonating MAS officers steal over S$3 million via WhatsApp screen sharing scam
Scammers masquerading as Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) officers have stolen over S$3 million from at least 46 victims since June 2025. The fraud was executed by exploiting WhatsApp's screen sharing function, according to a police statement on 26 June. The scam begins with victims receiving calls from local numbers. The callers falsely claim to be representatives from organisations such as NTUC Income, NTUC Union, or UnionPay, and allege problems with insurance policies supposedly purchased by the victims. When the victims deny buying such policies, they are redirected to a second caller. This individual poses as an MAS officer and falsely claims the victim's bank account is linked to money laundering activities. Victims are then instructed to transfer their money to a 'safe' account—controlled by the scammers—under the pretext of securing their funds during investigations. To facilitate this, the scammers convince victims to share their phone screens via WhatsApp. This grants the fraudsters full visibility of the victims' banking information, enabling them to guide the victims through unauthorised transfers. The deception is often uncovered only after the scammers become unreachable or demand further transfers. The police warned that individuals should never share their device screens with unknown or unverified parties. Doing so could lead to unauthorised access to sensitive banking data and substantial financial loss. Authorities also reminded the public that no government official will ever request banking credentials, instruct transfers of funds, or ask individuals to install unofficial applications. Furthermore, calls claiming to transfer a person to the police or other agencies should be treated with caution, as genuine officials do not initiate such protocols. To protect against such scams, the police advise installing the ScamShield app, which helps to block fraudulent calls and filter suspicious messages. They also recommend contacting banks immediately upon detecting any unusual banking activity. The Singapore Police Force reiterated the importance of public awareness and digital security, particularly as scams continue to escalate. In 2024 alone, scam victims in Singapore lost a total of S$1.1 billion, marking a 70 per cent increase compared to the S$646 million lost in 2023. Since 2019, total scam-related losses have surpassed S$3.4 billion. Additionally, 2024 recorded the highest number of scam reports to date, with 51,501 cases logged. Police investigations into the latest string of MAS impersonation scams are ongoing. The public is encouraged to report suspicious calls or messages immediately and to refrain from following instructions from unknown callers. The authorities are also working with telecommunications companies and digital platforms to clamp down on such fraud networks and prevent future incidents.
Daily Express
11 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Express
‘Misled on Haj package' claim
Published on: Saturday, June 28, 2025 Published on: Sat, Jun 28, 2025 By: Lagatah Toyos Text Size: According to Sapariah, the losses included return MAS flight tickets between Tawau and Kuala Lumpur, excess baggage charges for domestic flights in Saudi Arabia, and expenses for frozen food and other necessities—with some items supported by receipts and some without. TAWAU: The Consumer Claims Tribunal has fixed July 24 for the hearing of a case in which a female teacher is claiming RM10,000 in compensation from a company that offered a Hajj package. Tribunal President Larina Wong Shiao Yee said the claimant, Sapariah Muhammad, filed the claim against Tripz HR Sdn Bhd on May 14, 2025. In her claim, the teacher alleged that the company had misled her with the Hajj package it offered. She had paid for a Hajj worker visa and a Haji Tasreh visa package but was only issued a tourist visa. Despite paying for the worker visa package, Sapariah claimed she received only a tourist visa before departing from Tawau. She also alleged that the company misused the tourist visa for the purpose of performing Hajj. Furthermore, the claimant said she felt manipulated and deceived after being instructed to lie about her true purpose of travel to Saudi Arabia, both at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and upon arrival in Riyadh. She incurred losses amounting to RM10,000, as not all payments were refunded after she cancelled her trip while at KLIA. According to Sapariah, the losses included return MAS flight tickets between Tawau and Kuala Lumpur, excess baggage charges for domestic flights in Saudi Arabia, and expenses for frozen food and other necessities—with some items supported by receipts and some without. The teacher had initially paid a total of RM37,305 for the Hajj package, which included payments to the company's account, the agent's account, and other related expenses. However, she only received a partial refund of RM27,305. She was originally scheduled to perform the Hajj and Ziarah pilgrimage from May 17 to June 28, 2024. Meanwhile, the company's legal adviser, Hanif Osman, requested a new mention date to allow time to review the documents and claim details submitted. Larina then fixed July 24 as the next hearing date and instructed both the claimant and respondent to attend with any relevant witnesses or supporting documents. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Straits Times
a day ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Jail for ‘second-in-command' of illegal operation of cross-border crypto transactions
On June 26, Javiour Chia Kit Hou, whom the prosecution described as being the second-in-command, was sentenced to 10 months' jail. ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG SINGAPORE – From their premises in Geylang, a team operated an illegal business buying and selling large amounts of foreign currency and cryptocurrency. Between Feb 1 and 23, 2023, the team provided cross-border money-transfer services involving Singapore and foreign currencies of at least $35 million in value over no less than 430 transactions. Following a police raid on the premises on Feb 23, 2023, the mastermind behind the operation, Singaporean Low Han Chuan, 44, fled the country. On June 26, Javiour Chia Kit Hou, 34, whom the prosecution described as being the second-in-command, was sentenced to 10 months' jail. He had pleaded guilty earlier to one charge of abetment of the provision of an unlicensed payment service. Deputy public prosecutors Shamini Joseph and Kiera Yu said that at some poin t before June 2021, Low was introduced to a director of Sir Money Changer, a family-run company . Low expressed an interest in starting his own money-changing and remittance business, and after a discussion, the director agreed to let Low operate his business autonomously under Sir Money Changer's name from its premises at 12 Lorong 1 Geylang in exchange for $14,000 monthly. Low would hire his own staff and pay their salaries, and while the contributions to the staff's CPF would be paid by Sir Money Changer, Low would have to reimburse them. He was also required to record and submit the money-changing and remittance transactions performed at the Geylang premises to Sir Money Changer so that annual accounting returns could be filed together. Low commenced business operations on the premises in September 2021 . While he used Sir Money Changer's name, he conducted his own business involving illegal cross-border money transfer services from the Geylang premises independently and without oversight from Sir Money Changer. He did not have a licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) that allowed him to carry on such a business, and he was not an exempt payment service provider. Low, who masterminded the operation and procured customers, was generally not physically present at the premises. To run his business daily, he employed Chia, Malaysian Ho Jia Yi, 26, Singaporeans Peh Kian Tat, 46, Jacky Lim Teck Leng, 27, and Ng Yang Kai Don, 24, who is his nephew, as well as an unidentified person known as Vera. Between September 2021 and February 2023, the crew operated the business of buying and selling large amounts of foreign currency and the USDT cryptocurrency. Chia, who had a monthly salary of about $3,500, led the team and executed the daily operations of the business. He would assign the roles and responsibilities to the team, relay Low's instructions, procure customers for the business, execute the transfer of USDT, and supervise the recording of the transactions. When a customer engaged the team's services, a group chat would be set up on WhatsApp or Telegram to facilitate communication between the team and the customer. The team members were given work phones with a Cambodian number, which they used to communicate on the group chat. Using the chat, the customer would indicate the amount they wished to remit and the currency to be sent to the receiving bank account or intended recipient. The team would then provide the buying or selling rate, and the amount that would be transferred to the recipient in the intended currency. The customer would then agree to the deal or not. After a deal was confirmed, the team would coordinate between their network of overseas and local agents to perform the remittance transaction by either transferring or receiving cash, or processing transfers to the recipient bank accounts. Once the transaction was completed, members of the team would record the details of the transaction in a spreadsheet, including the customer alias, the date of transaction, the amount and currency involved, and the conversion rate. The prosecutors said the team did not carry out any Know-Your-Customer or proof of fund s checks or file cash movement reports despite being aware of the regulatory requirements to do so. On Feb 21, 2023, a 58-year-old woman lodged a police report stating that she was a victim of a police impersonation scam and had been deceived into transferring at least $200,000 to two bank accounts. Investigations revealed that $90,000 of the money was withdrawn by a 23-year-old Singaporean man who traded in cryptocurrency and was a member of a Telegram group chat along with Chia. It was found that Chia had advertised cryptocurrency services on the group chat and the 23-year-old man had reached out to him to buy USDT. The man was instructed deliver the $90,000 cash to the premises in Geylang, and received the USDT in his cryptocurrency wallet. As a result of this transaction, investigators discovered the operations at the premises and arrested Chia, Peh, and Ho. Ng left Singapore on the same day to meet his uncle and they both travelled to Cambodia. Ng eventually returned to Singapore some time around June 1, 2023, while Low remains at large. The prosecution asked the court to sentence Chia to between 10 and 12 months' jail. They said there was a high level of sophistication in the operation, that Chia knew a licence was required by the MAS and that he had obtained personal financial gain from the offence. Chia's lawyers, Mr Jeremy Pereira and Mr Matin Razak of Withers KhattarWong, asked for a sentence of between seven and eight months' jail. They said their client had been given an active role by Low in managing the operations as he was the only employee with a diploma working there, and that he was good with numbers. They said: 'It is clear that (Low), Javiour's employer, was the mastermind behind the entire scheme, not Javiour. 'Although Javiour oversaw the daily operations of the business, he acted purely on (Low)'s instructions.' Chia could have been fined up to $125,000, jailed for up to 3 years, or both. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
Business Times
a day ago
- Business
- Business Times
Japan's NTT files billion-dollar Reit listing with MAS; IPO set to be SGX's biggest in four years
[SINGAPORE] Japanese telco Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) is spinning off some of its data centres into a Singapore-listed real estate investment trust, or S-Reit, marking what is likely to be the largest Singapore listing in four years. The last company to list at this size was the US$977 million initial public offering (IPO) of Digital Core Reit in 2021. The portfolio will comprise six of its data centre assets, initially indicated to be transferred to the Singapore Reit called NTT DC Reit for about US$1.6 billion. The initial portfolio of NTT DC Reit comprises six data centres – four located in the US, one in Austria and one in Singapore. In its prospectus lodged with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Friday (Jun 27), NTT said that the manager was listing as it believed there is significant growth in the global data centre market with further headroom for expansion. This includes consistent growth in data centre pricing globally, alongside increasing capacity absorption and declining vacancies as well as a surge of capital allocation into data centres alongside increasing demand and consistent pricing growth. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up The IPO portfolio is also strategically diversified across key global markets, including the top 10 markets in the US and Asia-Pacific. NTT has a market capitalisation of around US$90 billion. Cornerstone investors include Singapore's sovereign wealth investor GIC, AM Squared, Pinpoint Asset Management and Ghisallo Master Fund. NTT has one of the largest global data divisions, covering more than 20 countries and regions across the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. NTT's proposed listing comes after a subdued market in recent years, where delistings have outpaced new listings on the local bourse, with more Singapore companies choosing to list on global exchanges. It also comes after the MAS' equities market review group put forward several proposals to boost the local equity market earlier this year. The proposals by the group, which was set up last August, include introducing tax incentives to spur more listings and a S$5 billion investment fund for asset managers to improve the bourse's liquidity.
