M’sian man, 28, used 17 S’pore bank accounts that moved almost S$4 million for scam syndicate, given 8 months’ jail

A 28-year-old Malaysian man was sentenced to eight months' jail on Oct. 27 after he illegally accessed 17 bank accounts in Singapore.

The accused, Tan Kian Hoa, pleaded guilty to one charge of criminal conspiracy to commit unauthorised computer access under the Computer Misuse Act.

Job he applied for involved scam syndicate

He applied for a job he saw on Facebook in September 2025, CNA reported.

An unidentified person informed Tan on Telegram that he would be paid RM3,500 (S$1,102) a month.

Tan had to work at Taman Eko Botani in Iskandar Puteri, which is in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

The job was to work for an online gambling syndicate that was also involved in moving scam proceeds.

Syndicate moved gamblers' money

The syndicate moved money from gamblers to online casinos and paid customers their winnings.

Close to S$4 million were moved in and out of the accounts that Tan had accessed.

Some of it, over S$21,000, was traced to scam cases reported in Singapore.

Track movement of funds from customers

The syndicate tracked the movement of funds from gambling customers to syndicate bank accounts by using an in-house computer system.

Tan received alerts via the system when deposits were made to the syndicate-controlled bank accounts in Singapore.

He had to ensure the funds tallied and he did not know the people whose bank accounts he accessed.

When the bank transactions and the amounts in the in-house computer system did not match, Tan had to contact the online casino customer service.

He was assigned phones each day, which contained internet banking mobile applications and SIM cards.

Each phone had a sticker with the account name, account number, and log-in credentials of the respective bank accounts.

Tan logged into the accounts to confirm the deposits.

He would report the payment to the syndicate via screenshots sent to Telegram group chats.

A total of S$3,996,971, including money from scams, flowed through 17 accounts when Tan was working.

He was aware throughout his time there that the syndicate's activities were illegal in Malaysia and Singapore.

A total of 17 Maribank or GXS bank accounts under the syndicate's control were reported as scams to the Singapore police.

The losses in the accounts ranged from S$150 to S$2,968.

Tan was arrested by the Royal Malaysian Police on Jul. 20.

He was handed over to SPF on Jul. 21.

Caught during multi-nation enforcement op

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) revealed in July 2026 that Operation Frontier+ III disrupted the syndicate in March, following a joint two-month operation between 10 law enforcement agencies from different countries.

MariBank had provided information.