by FMT Reporters
PETALING JAYA: Garald Lim, a 26-year-old Malaysian, has been sentenced to three years and nine months in prison in Singapore for his role in helping a global crime syndicate collect money from two scam victims.
According to The Straits Times, Lim pleaded guilty to three counts of handling criminal proceeds, specifically S$125,000. This was part of a larger sum of S$427,151 that was scammed from two women, aged 62 and 49, between March and April. The victims had lodged police reports after losing a total of S$501,151 in the scam.
The first victim lost S$138,151, while the second was defrauded of S$363,000. Lim, who had traveled to Singapore on May 2 to collect money from the second victim, was arrested the same day.
Lim had been recruited by a group based in China called OpenPay, which offered him a job opportunity. His task was to collect money from “clients” in Singapore, which was later converted into cryptocurrency. According to Lim, 99% of the money was transferred to OpenPay’s crypto wallet, and he kept 1% as commission.
Deputy public prosecutor Gabriel Lee revealed that Lim knew the business was likely illegal, as he believed OpenPay operated unregulated online casinos and gambling websites.
Lim’s lawyers, Josephus Tan and Cory Wong, argued for a lighter sentence of two years and two months, citing his cooperation with the authorities. However, the court sentenced him to a substantial prison term, considering the scale of his involvement in the criminal operation.
This case highlights the growing issue of international crime syndicates involved in financial fraud and the illegal conversion of stolen funds into cryptocurrency.
