M'sian man, 22, arrested in Johor & extradited to S'pore after money laundering cell busted by police from 2 countries

A 22-year-old male Malaysian, who is believed to be responsible for bringing foreigners to Singapore to open bank accounts to facilitate money laundering activities relating to scams, was arrested in Johor, Malaysia and extradited to Singapore to face charges.

He was one of 12 Malaysian nationals arrested on Aug. 9 following two raids that day, which crippled a money laundering syndicate, according to a news release by the Singapore Police Force (SPF).

Those arrested were suspected to be involved in money laundering activities using Singapore bank accounts.

The joint operation was conducted by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) of the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Johor Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) of the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP),

The SPF and the RMP have been working closely to share critical information of scam cases, the statement added, and the arrests were made after protracted investigations and evidence gathering.

The 22-year-old man was extradited to Singapore on Aug. 18 and will be charged in court on Aug. 19 for being party to a criminal conspiracy to obtain online banking credentials for unauthorised access to computer material, which is an offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1993.

The offence is punishable with imprisonment up to three years and a fine.

David Chew, director of CAD, thanked the Johor police and said: "This syndicate, allegedly involved in the provision of Singapore bank accounts for use by the money laundering cell, was a key player in the illicit movement of funds derived from a range of fraudulent scams."

The Singapore police will continue to work with Malaysia police to cripple such cells, Chew also said.

"These accounts were fraudulently exploited to launder the proceeds of various scams through Singapore’s financial system," he added.

"The SPF will continue to collaborate closely with our Malaysian counterparts to detect and deter these transnational syndicates who use the anonymity of the internet to commit crimes and launder criminal proceeds through the banking system."

Top photos via SPF