Malaysian man, 22, arrested in Johor and extradited to Singapore after police from 2 countries bust money laundering cell – Mothership.SG

A 22-year-old Malaysian man, suspected of bringing foreigners to Singapore to open bank accounts to facilitate money laundering fraud, has been arrested in Johor, Malaysia and extradited to Singapore to face the charges.

He was one of 12 Malaysian nationals arrested on August 9 after two raids that day busted a money laundering syndicate, a press release from the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said.

The detainees are suspected of being involved in money laundering activities through bank accounts in Singapore.

The joint operation was carried out by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) and the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP) Johor Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID),

The SPF and RMP have been working closely together to share crucial information on fraud cases, the statement said. The arrests were made after lengthy investigations and evidence gathering.

The 22-year-old man was extradited to Singapore on August 18 and will appear in court on August 19 charged with participating in a criminal conspiracy to obtain online banking login credentials for unauthorized access to computer material, an offence under the Computer Misuse Act of 1993.

This offence is punishable by a prison sentence of up to three years and a fine.

CAD Director David Chew thanked the Johor police and said: “This syndicate, which was allegedly involved in providing bank accounts in Singapore for use by the money laundering cell, played a major role in the illicit cash flows from a series of fraudulent scams.”

The Singapore police will continue to work with the Malaysian police to neutralise such cells, Chew also said.

“These accounts were fraudulently misused to launder the proceeds of various scams through Singapore’s financial system,” he added.

“The SPF will continue to work closely with our Malaysian counterparts to track and deter these transnational syndicates who abuse the anonymity of the internet to commit crimes and launder criminal proceeds through the banking system.”

Top Photos via SPF