M’sian man, 27, arrested in M'sia & handed over to S'pore for allegedly being a scam syndicate mastermind

A 27-year-old Malaysian man was arrested in Malaysia and handed over to Singapore for allegedly recruiting and coordinating Malaysians to conduct scam and money laundering operations.

The man, nicknamed “Da Xiang”, was wanted for his role as a syndicate mastermind who coordinated a government official impersonation scam and conducted money laundering operations in Singapore.

Officers from the Singapore Police Force's Cyber Command identified "Da Xiang" following investigations.

The Singapore authorities issued a warrant of arrest and the man was arrested in Malaysia on Sep. 22.

He was handed over to the Singapore police on the same day.

Modus operandi

Preliminary investigations revealed that "Da Xiang" had allegedly met with at least four Malaysian runners on multiple occasions in Malaysia, assigned tasks, coordinated ATM withdrawals, and disbursed their earnings from these jobs.

Under his instructions, the runners apparently brought gold items collected from scam victims during their assignments back to Johor Bahru and physically handed them over to him.

Da Xiang is also believed to have laundered at least S$500,000 in scam and illicit proceeds.

He will be charged on Sep. 23 with criminal conspiracy to assist another to retain benefits from criminal conduct.

The offence carries a jail term of up to 10 years, a fine of up to S$500,000, or both.

Police advisory

The police said they continue to observe an increasing trend of Malaysian nationals travelling to Singapore to help scam syndicates collect cash and valuables from scam victims.

The police also expressed its appreciation to the Royal Malaysia Police’s Commercial Crime Investigation Department (RMP-CCID) for their cooperation and assistance in facilitating the arrest.

Senior assistant commissioner of police Justin Wong, commander of Cyber Command, said scam syndicates “know no borders”.

“It is only through close and sustained cooperation with our international partners that we can effectively dismantle these criminal networks,” he said.

The police also advised members of the public that Singapore government officials will never request the transfer of money, cash, jewellery or other valuables to unknown persons over the phone, request banking login details, instruct the installation of mobile apps from unofficial app stores, or transfer calls to the police.

The police added that members of the public should remain vigilant and not trust unsolicited calls, messages or emails, even if the caller appears to possess their personal information.

If in doubt, call the 24/7 ScamShield Helpline at 1799 to check.

For urgent police assistance, members of the public can dial "999".

For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamshield.gov.sg.