Malaysian courier in Singapore collected 1,600 gold bars from scam victim, gets jail

A Malaysian man has been sentenced to 38 months in jail in Singapore for his role in a scam that defrauded a woman of 1,600 gold bars, valued at more than S$412,000 (approximately US$319,200).

Turah Raju Subramaniam, 39, pleaded guilty to assisting in retaining benefits from criminal conduct. He was recruited through a Telegram chat group offering "job opportunities" in Singapore. Promised a fee of S$50 per job, he was instructed to collect the gold bars from a 54-year-old Singaporean woman who had fallen victim to a government impersonation scam.

The court heard that Subramaniam was directed to meet a man at Kranji MRT station, receive an envelope he was told contained cash, and then hand it over to another individual. He later admitted to feeling suspicious about the envelope's contents, suspecting the money was illegally obtained. He was then asked to collect another bag, which turned out to be the gold bars from the victim.

The victim was deceived by callers posing as officials from a bank and the Ministry of Law. They convinced her she was a suspect in a money laundering case and that transferring funds would protect her. The gold bars were subsequently transported to Malaysia and remain unrecovered. Subramaniam was also promised transport back to Malaysia after collecting the gold.

Subramaniam's defense team argued he was promised S$50 for each job and given 1,600 ringgit for food and transport. He was instructed not to open the envelope he received initially, but questioned its contents when told it was cash. The scam involved convincing the victim she was a suspect in money laundering, leading her to transfer funds and hand over the gold.