The Police will be charging three men and two women, aged between 34 and 59, in court on 16 August 2021, for their alleged involvement in using fraudulently obtained national registration identity card (NRIC) and foreign identification numbers (FIN) numbers to redeem face masks from vending machines put up by Temasek Foundation during their mask distribution exercises.
The cases are as follows:
- A 34-year-old man had allegedly gone to multiple locations to redeem 14 face masks from mask vending machines using NRIC numbers of others which were sent to him by accident or obtained in the course of his work. He is believed to have dishonestly induced Temasek Foundation to deliver 14 mask packs through the mask vending machines, by falsely representing that he was authorised to collect the face masks on behalf of those persons. He will be charged with one count of cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code.
- A 58-year-old man had allegedly redeemed 11 face masks from mask vending machines using NRIC numbers of his clients without their authorisation for his own use. He is believed to have dishonestly induced Temasek Foundation to deliver 11 mask packs through the mask vending machines, by falsely representing that he was authorised to collect the face masks on behalf of those persons. He will be charged with two counts of cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code.
- A 47-year-old woman had allegedly redeemed 8 face masks from mask vending machines using FIN and NRIC numbers she had obtained in the course of her work and had retained without the owners’ consent. She is believed to have dishonestly induced Temasek Foundation to deliver 8 mask packs through the mask vending machines, by falsely representing that she was authorised to collect the face masks on behalf of those persons. She will be charged with one count of cheating and one count of illegally obtaining personal information under Section 420 and Section 416A of the Penal Code respectively.
- A 43-year-old woman had allegedly redeemed 10 face masks from mask vending machines using NRIC numbers of her clients without their authorisation. She is believed to have dishonestly induced Temasek Foundation to deliver 10 mask packs through the mask vending machines, by falsely representing that she was authorised to collect the mask packs on behalf of those persons. She will be charged with two counts of cheating and two counts of illegally obtaining personal information under Section 420 and Section 416A of the Penal Code respectively.
- A 59-year-old man had allegedly redeemed 257 face masks from mask vending machines using fraudulent means. He is believed to have dishonestly induced Temasek Foundation to deliver 13 mask packs through the mask vending machines, by falsely representing that he was authorised to collect the mask packs on behalf of others whose NRIC numbers he had obtained in the course of his work. In the course of investigations, he was found with a further 244 face masks believed to be fraudulently obtained. He will be charged with one count of cheating and one count of fraudulent possession of property under Section 420 of the Penal Code and Section 35(1) of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act respectively.
The offence of cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code carries an imprisonment term which may extend to ten years, and includes a fine. The offence of retaining illegally obtained personal information under Section 416A of the Penal Code carries an imprisonment term of up to three years, a fine of up to $10,000, or both. The offence of fraudulent possession of property under Section 35(1) of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act carries an imprisonment term of up to one year, a fine of up to $3,000, or both.
The Police take a serious view of persons who dishonestly deprive others of redeeming their face masks during such distributions through fraudulent methods of obtaining their personal information and misusing this for personal gain. The Police will spare no efforts to apprehend perpetrators and bring them to justice.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
15 August 2021 @ 4:30 PM