SINGAPORE: A Malaysian man who applied for a job on Facebook wound up working for a transnational syndicate, illegally accessing 17 bank accounts in Singapore.
In total, almost S$4 million (US$3.1 million) flowed through those accounts, of which over S$21,000 was traced to reported scam cases in Singapore.
Tan Kian Hoa, 28, was sentenced to eight months' jail on Tuesday (Oct 27).
He pleaded guilty to one charge of criminal conspiracy to commit unauthorised computer access under the Computer Misuse Act.
THE CASE
Tan found a job through Facebook in September 2025 and applied for it.
He later chatted with an unidentified person on chat application Telegram and was told he would be paid RM3,500 monthly (S$1,090).
He was told to report for work at an address in Taman Eko Botani, in the city of Iskandar Puteri in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
An online gambling syndicate was stationed there, moving funds originating from gamblers to online casinos and paying out winnings to customers.
The syndicate operated using an in-house computer system called Trustpay, where syndicate members tracked the movement of funds from gambling customers to syndicate accounts.
Tan was to receive alerts via the Trustpay portal concerning deposits made to the syndicate's bank accounts, which were all based in Singapore and registered under names of people Tan did not know.
Tan had to confirm the deposits by logging into the accounts, using the bank's web portal and the mobile phones that had been assigned to him for the day.
Each phone was pre-loaded with the internet banking mobile application and a SIM card, with a sticker on the back identifying the account name, account number and log-in credentials of the respective bank accounts.
Tan would take a screenshot of the payment and report it to the syndicate via group chats on Telegram.
On occasions where the bank transactions did not match the amounts in the Trustpay portal, Tan would communicate with online casino customer service staff members to fix the discrepancies.
In addition to gambling funds, scam funds were also moved through the syndicate.
The Singapore Police Force (SPF) received scam reports relating to 17 Maribank or GXS bank accounts under the syndicate's control.
The losses in the accounts ranged from S$150 to S$2,968.
While Tan was working, the total amount that flowed through the 17 accounts was S$3,996,971.
At all times, he knew that the syndicate carried out activities that were illegal in both Malaysia and Singapore.
SPF said in July that the syndicate was disrupted in March during Operation Frontier+ III, as a result of information provided by MariBank.
This was a joint two-month operation targeting transnational scams, which SPF conducted in partnership with nine foreign law enforcement agencies.
Tan was arrested by the Royal Malaysian Police on Jul 20 and handed over to SPF the next day.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Jasmin Kaur sought eight months' jail for Tan, pointing to the amount that flowed through the 17 accounts.
Tan's lawyer, Mr Teo Choo Kee, noted that only about S$21,000 was linked to scams.
He said his client "certainly did not know" that some of the funds going through the accounts were related to scams.
For conspiracy to commit unauthorised access to computer material, he could have been jailed for up to two years, fined up to S$5,000, or both.