SINGAPORE — Two men were charged on Thursday (May 2) for their suspected involvement in a case of armed robbery with a gang, taking valuables estimated to be worth S$4.34 million. They had been arrested in Malaysia and handed over to the Singapore police.

Court documents showed that Malaysians Goh Boon Tong, 28, and Muhammad Tauffiq Ahmad Fauzi, 32, each face a charge of committing gang robbery while armed with deadly weapons. There are other suspects besides them said to be involved.

The two were allegedly armed with parangs and baseball bats during the incident in the wee hours of April 18 this year at a residence along King Albert Park in the Bukit Timah district. 

Multiple alleged victims were named in the court documents, with items belonging to them ranging from phones, cash, foreign currencies and luxury brand watches.

One of the alleged victims had about S$3.9 million worth of valuables stolen, comprising cryptocurrency worth S$3.58 million, S$210,000 of cash in Singapore currency and almost S$110,000 of foreign currencies, also in cash.

Neither the court documents nor the police statement elaborated on how the men allegedly stole the cryptocurrency.

In an earlier statement on Thursday, the police said that the two suspects were arrested in Malaysia by the country’s police on April 27 and 28 under Singapore warrants.

Both were handed over by the Malaysian police to their Singapore counterparts on April 30.

The police here said: “A group of more than four men had robbed 11 victims, aged between 25 and 45, of various valuables, including cash in local and foreign currencies, cryptocurrency, and luxury brand watches, with an estimated total value of S$4.34 million.” 

Investigations established the identities of the suspects and found that the group had fled to Malaysia soon after the police were alerted to the robbery case.

“Investigations are ongoing and the Singapore Police Force is working with the Royal Malaysia Police to locate the remaining suspects,” the police said.

Goh and Tauffiq have been remanded for further investigations and their cases will be mentioned again in court in a week's time.

For gang robbery, a person can be jailed for between five and receive at least 12 strokes of the cane.

If armed with deadly weapons when committing a robbery or attempted robbery, the offender can be sentenced to 12 strokes of the cane on top of the punishment for the robbery offence.