SINGAPORE – Seven men were charged in court on Friday for their alleged involvement in various crimes related to money mule activities, including cheating, money laundering, and facilitating unauthorized access to computer material.
The accused are Jacky Lim Yi Li, 33, Ho Jia Jin, 29, Zhao Huanhuan, 34, Engku Noor Ziman Noor Azhar, 23, Mohamad Herman Mohamad Ibrahim, 19, and Muhammad Helmi Kamaruddin, 33. The identity of the seventh individual, aged 17, is protected under the Children and Young Persons Act.
According to a police press release on Friday, the men are suspected of engaging in several types of scams, such as fake friend calls, investment frauds, job scams, rental scams, and government official impersonation scams. Investigations suggest that the men were involved in agreements with criminal syndicates through chat platforms like Telegram and Facebook, where they either sold or rented their bank accounts.
The accused are believed to have either sold their own bank accounts or tricked banks into opening new accounts, which they then sold or rented to criminal groups for sums ranging from $500 to $900 per account.
The charges they face are serious: cheating could lead to a jail term of up to three years and a fine; money laundering could result in up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000; and facilitating unauthorized computer access carries up to two years in prison, a fine, or both.
