PUBLISHED ONMay 23, 2026 6:50 AMBYSean LerA 26-year-old Malaysian man will be charged in court on Saturday (May 23) over his alleged role in a scam involving impersonation of Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) officers.
Following his arrest on Friday, the number of Malaysians caught in Singapore for allegedly helping scam syndicates to collect cash and valuables since March this year now stands at 27.
On May 21, a 34-year-old Malaysian woman was charged for assisting a crime syndicate to collect cash amounting to $13,700 and gold from a female victim.
Police said they received a report on May 19 from a 61-year-old female victim who had received a call from an unknown person claiming to be from YouTrip on May 13.
The victim was told that her account was involved in a money laundering investigation, and she was instructed to contact a purported MAS officer for further details.
Similar to cases reported earlier, the victim was accused of being involved in crime and asked to declare all her assets — by handing over cash amounting to $45,000 to the purported MAS officer in Pasir Ris on May 14 — as a signal of cooperation with the investigation.
She was also shown a fake copy of her YouTrip statement, along with a fake Court Order and threatened with arrest.
Police said they arrested the man on Friday through follow-up investigations by officers from the Anti-Scam Command.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the man was tasked by unknown individuals, believed to be part of a transnational crime syndicate, to collect cash and valuables from the victim.
If found guilty of assisting another to retain benefits from criminal conduct, the suspect could be jailed for up to 10 years, fined up to $500,000, or both.
Members of the public are also reminded that government officials will never ask anyone to transfer money over the phone, request bank details, transfer a call to the police, or instruct anyone to install mobile apps from unofficial app stores.
If in doubt, they may call the 24/7 ScamShield Helpline at 1799.
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