Singapore scam trio denied bail over Cambodia-Malaysia syndicate

A Singapore district court on Thursday denied bail to the brother and girlfriend of an alleged syndicate leader. The syndicate purportedly led a group based in Cambodia that targeted Singaporeans in scams and laundered the proceeds in Malaysia. The losses from the scams amount to tens of millions of dollars, a prosecutor told the court in seeking no bail for the pair. Ng Wei Kang, 33, and Christy Neo Wei En, 29, both Singaporeans, have been remanded since September 11. They face one charge each of being a member of a locally linked organised criminal group around September 9, with at least 11 others. Ng’s charge states that he knew that one of the purposes of the group was to obtain financial benefits via the commission of serious offences by its members in Singapore. Neo’s charge states that she knew the group’s members had committed cheating offences in Singapore. Deputy Public Prosecutor Cheah Wenjie told the court that the pair, along with a third co-accused, Lester Ng, had a strong connection to the syndicate leadership, who remain at large, and argued they posed a high risk of collusion or witness tampering if released on bail. The syndicate relies on cryptocurrency to transact and disburse its criminal proceeds; this currency is difficult to pre-emptively detect, Cheah said. This would allow the syndicate to surreptitiously provide funds to the accused persons, to help them abscond if they are allowed to go on bail, he said. “There are large amounts of criminal proceeds involved. The resultant punishment is likely to be lengthy. This gives added incentive for the accused persons to abscond,” Cheah said. He said the offences were non-bailable. Ng is the brother of the suspected syndicate leader, who remains at large. “Preliminary investigations reveal that Ng is intimately involved in high-level operations of the syndicate as well. So, the scam operations in Cambodia, as well as the money-laundering operations that primarily take place in Malaysia,” Cheah added. He said the syndicate, operating from Cambodia, targeted Singapore victims and then laundered the proceeds through bank accounts or crypto wallets procured in Malaysia. The prosecutor alleged that Ng was involved in both the syndicate’s scam operations and its money laundering activities. As for Neo, she is the girlfriend of the same suspected syndicate leader and has received “substantial upkeep from him directly, including her living expenses as well as a driver or bodyguard that was hired for her”, the prosecutor said. He said preliminary investigations show that she was involved in the syndicate’s operations by recruiting scam callers for the syndicate, and was also involved in moving around the syndicate leader’s cryptocurrency. “Although Neo is a Singaporean, she is not close to her family in Singapore and has no residence here,” Cheah said, adding that Neo lives in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Cheah told the court that preliminary investigations showed the third co-accused, Lester Ng, was a high-ranking member of the syndicate’s scam and money laundering operations. Ng faces a charge of being a member of the organised criminal group, similar to the two co-accused. Cheah said investigations linked Lester Ng to at least 40 scam cases, resulting in more than S$5 million (US$3.9 million) in losses. Lawyers Cory Wong and Josephus Tan, representing Ng and Neo, sought time to take full instructions before filing a bail application, as their clients had been remanded for weeks. “I think we can, at best, inform my two clients that their families are very concerned. They are here in court,” Wong said. Representing 29-year-old Lester Ng, lawyer Selvarajan Balamurugan argued that the court had the discretion to grant his client bail. He said his client has been remanded for some time and would have provided statements along with his co-accused. This would eliminate any risk of collusion or witness tampering, and stringent bail conditions like tagging can be imposed. District Judge Brenda Tan denied bail for the three accused over concerns that they might flee and potentially collude with each other. However, she said the defence lawyers were at liberty to apply for a bail review in the future. The trio were arrested as part of a joint operation between Singaporean law enforcement and Cambodian police. The Singapore Police Force and Cambodian National Police disrupted a criminal syndicate that was impersonating government officials to scam Singaporeans, according to a police news release last month. The joint operation led to the arrest of 12 people in Singapore, including eight Singaporean men, two Malaysian men and one Filipino woman. Since December 2024, scam callers have deceived Singapore victims into losing large sums of money by impersonating bank staff and then redirecting them to a fraudster posing as a police officer or an official from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. The victims would then be scammed into surrendering their bank account funds for investigations by transferring the money to bank accounts controlled by the syndicate. The syndicate, which was secretly operating out of a scam centre in Phnom Penh, was believed to be responsible for at least 330 reported cases, involving losses of more than S$40 million, police said. “Based on preliminary findings, members of the syndicate travelled to Cambodia willingly and earned commissions for each successful scam they committed,” police said in their statement. More than S$2.5 million in funds from bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets was seized in the operation, along with electronic devices and copies of scam scripts. If convicted of being a member of a locally linked organised criminal group, the trio can be jailed for up to five years, fined up to S$100,000, or both. They will return for further mentions of their cases later this month. This story was first published by CNA

Singapore scam trio denied bail over Cambodia-Malaysia syndicate

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The accused, including the suspected leader’s brother and girlfriend, are linked to scams in Phnom Penh and money laundering in Malaysia

The accused, including the suspected leader’s brother and girlfriend, are linked to scams in Phnom Penh and money laundering in Malaysia