Seven masked men stormed into a good class bungalow (GCB) at King Albert Park in 2024 while a high-stakes poker game was going on, and tied up the 11 people in the house.
The robbers, some of whom were armed with machetes and baseball bats, made off with $4.9 million, mostly in cryptocurrency, and left Singapore immediately in two cars via separate checkpoints.
On Sept 14, six of the men, all Malaysians, were handed jail sentences after they each pleaded guilty to a charge of armed gang robbery and a charge of money laundering for moving the loot from Singapore to Malaysia.
The seventh suspect is at large and is believed to be in Thailand.
The two masterminds who conceived the heist — Wong Chi San, 35, and Goh Boon Tong, 30 — were each sentenced to 12 years and 11 months' jail, 24 strokes of the cane, and a $4,000 fine.
The duo had also admitted to charges related to vice offences.
Mohd Hamidon Ahmed, 49, who was roped in to provide more "muscle" for the robbery, was sentenced to 10½ years' jail and 24 strokes of the cane.
Wong and Goh offered him RM1.5 million (S$467,000) to be split among his team.
Hamidon recruited Kartik Palaniappan, 34, Mohd Hashim Ismail, 51, and Muhammad Tauffiq Ahmad Fauzi, 34.
Kartik and Tauffiq were each sentenced to seven years and eight months' jail and 24 strokes of the cane.
Hashim, who cannot be caned as he is above 50 years old, was given eight years and eight months' jail.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Dillon Kok told the High Court that the poker game on April 18, 2024, was hosted by a Chinese national whose husband was the tenant of the house.
A South Korean national was engaged as the card dealer, while a Chinese national who lived in the house assisted with the game, while a Malaysian provided massage services to the seven players.
The seven players comprised comprised five Singaporeans, an Indonesian and a Chinese national.
In November 2023, Wong and Goh came to know about poker games taking place in the house through their friend who had participated in them.
The stakes for these games could run up to several hundred thousand dollars and payment was settled by cryptocurrency.
When they visited the house, they observed that the gate would be left open and the wooden door unlocked for the duration of the games.
The pair headed to Singapore to determine the opportune time to strike.
They booked an apartment in Johor Bahru to house the team and planned to commit the robbery, clad in black with gloves and ski masks.
Hamidon told Goh he would prepare duct tape and cable ties.
On April 15, 2024, Wong and Goh drove by the GCB and confirmed that a game was under way, but Hamidon's team had not arrived in Singapore.
On the night of April 17, 2024, Wong and Goh alerted Hamidon to bring his team after confirming that a game was in progress.
Past 2am, they entered the house via an unlocked gate and tied up the people inside.
After securing the crypto transfers and robbing the victims of cash and valuables, the robbers left the house.
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