They withdrew cash again and again

They withdrew cash again and again

SINGAPORE- He thought it was odd that the three men were withdrawing money again and again.

They were at an ATM just outside the Burlington Square building on Wednesday afternoon.

Holding a stack of cards, the men would withdraw cash, then go to the back of the queue so they could make another withdrawal.

Occasionally, they would walk over to an ATM less than 100m away at Sim Lim Square and do the same. This went on for two hours.

And it seems the 56-year-old security guard was not the only one who found their behaviour suspicious.

Someone else called the police.

The guard at Burlington Square, who wanted to be known only as Mr Noor, said of the incident: "They were acting very weirdly because they were trying to withdraw money again and again.

"On a few occasions, I noticed that they seemed to have trouble withdrawing the cash and would ask those behind them in the queue to go ahead first.

"It was obvious that something was fishy. The men were still in the queue when the police arrived."

After three hours of questioning at the scene, one of the men was arrested for fraudulent possession of four ATM cards.

Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao yesterday reported that the three men allegedly withdrew $30,000 in cash from the ATMs.

$80,000 FOUND

The police also found $80,000 in the bag of one of the men, reported Wanbao.

A police spokesman said they received a call at about 12.30pm.

A 27-year-old man was arrested and two other men are assisting in the investigation.

One of the men told Lianhe Wanbao that the man who was arrested was their boss.

They were from Tamil Nadu, India, and had arrived in Singapore on Tuesday for a "business trip".

He said the men needed to withdraw the money to buy old televisions and computers to be sold back in India.

Of the $80,000 found in the bag, $30,000 was withdrawn from the ATMs while $50,000 was changed at a money changer.

"We prepared the money, and they were from India, in different accounts, so that it would be easy to withdraw," said the man.

"The second-hand appliances in Singapore are much cheaper than in India, and we can sell them for double the price we bought them for here."

A spokesman for DBS said they were aware of the matter.

"We would like to reassure our customers that there were no unauthorised withdrawals involving DBS or POSB cards."

Police investigations are ongoing.


This article was first published on 09/12, 2014.
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