PUBLISHED ONJanuary 21, 2026 3:15 AMBYSean LerFour Malaysian nationals, aged 24 to 30, will be charged in court on Wednesday (Jan 21) for their alleged involvement in three separate cases of government official impersonation scams (GOIS).
Police said in a statement on Tuesday night that losses in the three cases totalled over $1.17million and involved three men and one woman.
The cases took place between Oct 22, 2025, and Jan 19 this year.
In the first case, a victim was deceived of over $1.1 million by scammers who impersonated government officials by making transfers of large sums of money.
The stolen funds were then laundered through a complex network of payment channels and withdrawals via automated teller machines in Malaysia - within hours of the transfers.
Two men, aged 24 and 30, were identified through extensive ground enquiries and follow-up investigations by officers from the police's Anti-Scam Command, with assistance from the Malaysian police.
The duo are alleged to have withdrawn cash from ATMs in Malaysia using payment channel cards belonging to scam mules, before handing over the money to unknown persons, forming part of the money laundering operation.
Both the second and third cases occurred on Jan 19, with victims falling prey to scammers purporting to be officials from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Similar to earlier cases, victims were told that they were under investigations and told to hand over cash to unknown persons - either for the purpose of investigations or safekeeping.
The second victim handed over $50,000 to a 28-year-old Malaysian man, while the third victim handed over $15,000 to a 26-year-old Malaysian woman.
Both the 28-year-old man and the 26-year-old woman are believed to be part of a transnational scam syndicate tasked to collect cash from scam victims before handing over the cash to unknown persons.
The four Malaysian nationals will be charged in court on Wednesday.
The police said they continue to observe an increasing trend of Malaysian nationals travelling to Singapore to assist scam syndicates in collecting cash, gold and valuables from scam victims.
They issued a stern reminder to would-be perpetrators:
"The police take a serious stance against any person who may be involved in scams, and perpetrators will be dealt with in accordance with the law," said the law enforcement agency.
The offence of abetment by conspiracy to assist another to retain benefits from criminal conduct carries a penalty of imprisonment of up to 10 years, a fine not exceeding $500,000, or both.
Scammers and members or recruiters of scam syndicates may also face mandatory caning of at least 6 strokes, up to a maximum of 24 strokes of the cane.
[[nid:728138]]
