The Police have arrested a 32-year-old man for his suspected involvement in a case of cheating, by using illegally obtained personal information to redeem Government-issued face masks from vending machines.
On 27 and 28 May 2020, the Police received several reports from victims who were unable to collect their Government-issued face masks from vending machines at various collection points in Singapore. Checks against the system’s records indicated that their face masks had already been redeemed.
Through investigations and the aid of images from Police cameras, officers from Bedok Police Division established the identity of the man and arrested him on 28 May 2020. More than 200 face masks were recovered and seized as case exhibits. Preliminary investigations revealed that between 26 and 28 May 2020, the man had fraudulently redeemed more than 200 face masks from the 24-hour vending machines located at 10 Simei Street 2 using personal information illegally obtained from his previous job as a manpower recruiter for a recruitment company.
The man will be charged in court on 30 May 2020 with cheating and retention of illegally obtained personal information under Section 420 and Section 416A of the Penal Code, Chapter 224. The offence of cheating carries an imprisonment term of up to 10 years, and shall also be liable to a fine. The offence of retaining illegally obtained personal information carries an imprisonment term of up to three years, or a fine of up to $10,000, or both.
Superintendent of Police K Vasanthan, Head Investigation of Bedok Police Division, said, “The Police take a serious view of this case of fraudulent redemption of face masks. Thanks to swift action by the investigators from Bedok Police Division, we were able to identify the suspect and bring him to justice quickly. We were also able to recover more than 200 face masks and prevent further loss of personal protective equipment, which are important to keeping the community safe.”
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
29 May 2020 @ 10:30 PM