Man, 46, arrested for restraining male victim with cable ties & extorting over S$200,000

A 46-year-old man has been arrested after extorting more than S$200,000 from a man he restrained in a hotel room with cable ties.

The police were first alerted to the incident on Sep. 11 at about 3:55pm when a female friend of the victim reported that she had been asked to transfer a sum of cryptocurrency to him.

She said that male victim had claimed that another friend required the money, and provided a QR code for the woman to transfer the funds.

She eventually transferred more than S$78,000 via the QR code, but suspected that her friend was in trouble.

The police managed to establish the 46-year-old man's identity via ground enquiries and investigations, and caught him at Changi Airport Terminal 1 within eight hours.

They then found that he restrained the victim in a hotel along Coleman Street and demanded the sum from him.

The cryptocurrency transferred has been recovered, police said.

The victim was also conveyed conscious to the hospital after sustaining injuries.

The 46-year-old man will be charged in court today (Sep. 13) for extortion, which could see him imprisoned between two and seven years, and caned.

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