4 suspects, including 3 teens, charged over money mule activities

Source: The Straits Times
Author: Wong Shiying

SINGAPORE - Four youths aged 17 to 21 were charged in court on March 8 over their suspected involvement in money mule activities, including selling their Singpass and banking details to scammers.

Their details were allegedly used by fraudsters to launder illicit proceeds from various scams, the police said on March 7.

Hans Ilhan Mahroon, 21, faces a charge of disclosing his banking details to an unknown person for $1,300 in November 2023. He had allegedly done this in response to an online advertisement on messaging platform Telegram.

Mattias Soon Jia Le, 19, purportedly opened three bank accounts and gave his banking details to unknown individuals for $2,300 in May 2023 after seeing an advertisement on Telegram.

Soon faces three charges of cheating and another three charges under the Computer Misuse Act.

The other two suspects, both aged 17, cannot be named as they were below 18 years old when they committed their offences. Their identities are protected under the Children and Young Persons Act.

One of them faces a charge of sharing his Singpass details to an unknown person in October 2023 for $3,000. His details were later used to open a bank account and launder proceeds from a phishing scam.

The other teen allegedly accepted $600 in exchange for creating a bank account and giving her banking details to an acquaintance. The bank account was subsequently used to launder proceeds from e-commerce scams, job scams and investment scams.

The police urged members of the public to reject seemingly attractive opportunities that promise fast and easy money in exchange for the use of their Singpass or bank account details.

If found guilty of conspiring to cheat banks into opening bank accounts, an offender can be jailed for up to three years and fined.

For first-time offenders, abetting to secure unauthorised access to a bank's computer system is punishable with a fine not exceeding $5,000, jail time of up to two years, or both.

If they are convicted of unauthorised disclosure of access codes, they face a fine not exceeding $10,000, jail time of up to three years, or both.