2 Indian-origin men among 9 charged in Singapore for aiding scam syndicates

Two Indian-origin men were among nine persons charged in Singapore on Monday for allegedly acting as money mules, enabling scam syndicates to use their bank accounts.

Yuvan Thirumaran, 24, and Amarjit Singh Jugindar Singh, 50, were among six men and three women charged with scam-related offences, facing between one and 19 counts each, The Straits Times newspaper reported.

The nine persons are accused of selling their bank accounts to enable criminal syndicates to launder money.

Their offences include abetment of cheating, assisting another to retain benefits from criminal conduct, and various contraventions of the Computer Misuse Act.

Forty-one persons are expected to be charged this week over allegedly acting as money mules or allowing related activities in a variety of scams, including government official impersonation scams, rental scams, job scams, fake friend call scams and e-commerce scams, according to the report.

Those convicted of assisting another person to retain the benefits from criminal conduct or cheating can be jailed for up to three years, fined, or both.

Scam victims in Singapore lost SGD 1.1 billion in 2024, about 70 per cent more than the SGD 651.8 million lost in 2023, marking record-high amounts of losses suffered in a single year.