A 28-year-old woman will be charged in court on 28 March 2023 for furnishing false information to a public servant, cheating and suspected money laundering activities in relation with a case of China Officials Impersonation Scam (COIS).
On 25 March 2021, the Police received a report from a victim who was deceived into transferring $10,000.00 to a bank account provided by the scammer to avoid going back to China to assist in money laundering investigations. Through follow up investigations, officers from the Commercial Affairs Department established the identity of a 28-year-old woman who was the bank account holder.
The woman will be charged in court on 28 March 2023 for:
- one count of transferring another person’s benefits from criminal conduct under Section 47(2) of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Offences (Confiscation of Benefits) Act (Cap 65, 2000 Rev Ed) (“CDSA”),
- one amalgamated count of transferring another person’s benefits from criminal conduct under Section 47(2) of the CDSA read with Section 124(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 68, 2012 Rev Ed),
- one count of furnishing false information under Section 177 of the Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed), and
- two counts of Cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed).
Those found guilty of the offence of transferring another person’s criminal benefits under the CDSA face an imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years, a fine up to S$500,000, or both. Anyone convicted of giving any information which a person knows to be false to a public servant carries an imprisonment term which may extend to six months, or with a fine which may extend to $5,000, or both. In addition, those found guilty of the offence of cheating face an imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years and a fine.
The Police take a serious view against any person who may be involved in scams, whether knowingly or unwittingly, and they would be dealt with severely in accordance with the law.
The Police would like to highlight that the China Police, Interpol, and other overseas law enforcement agencies have no jurisdiction to conduct operations in Singapore, arrest anyone or ask members of the public to help with any form of investigations without the approval of the Singapore Government.
The Police would also like to advise members of the public to take the following precautions when they receive unsolicited calls, especially from unknown parties with the “+” prefix phone numbers that originate from overseas:
- Ignore such calls and the caller’s instructions. No government agency will instruct payment through a telephone call or other social messaging platforms (WeChat or Facebook), or ask you for personal banking information such as your internet banking passwords;
- For foreigners receiving calls from persons claiming to be from Police in your home country, call your Embassy/High Commission to verify the claims of the caller;
- Refrain from giving out your personal information and bank details, whether on the website or to callers over the phone. Personal information and bank details such as internet bank account usernames and passwords, OTP codes from tokens, are useful to criminals;
- Do not make any fund transfers if the caller is of dubious identity;
- Call a trusted friend or talk to a relative before you act. You may be overwhelmed by emotion and err in your judgement; and
- If an overseas law enforcement officer is ordering you to do things in Singapore from overseas under the colour of their national office, always hang up the call and check with the Singapore Police Force.
If you have any information related to such crime, please call the Police Hotline at 1800-255-0000, or dial ‘999’ for urgent Police assistance.
To seek scam-related advice, members of the public may call the Anti-Scam Hotline at 1800-722-6688 or go to www.scamalert.sg. Do share this advisory with your family and friends to prevent them from being the next scam victim.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
27 March 2023 @ 5:00 PM