SINGAPORE — To pay the rent for a condominium he was sharing with his girlfriend, a young man became a "runner" for a criminal syndicate based in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

He and another man withdrew a total of nearly S$2.2 million from automated teller machines (ATMs), of which part has been linked to the proceeds of scams.

On Monday (Aug 12), Jervis Tan Le Jia, now aged 20, was sentenced to 21 months' of supervised probation.

He had pleaded guilty to a charge of assisting another to retain benefits from criminal conduct and four charges of amalgamated abetment by conspiracy to gain unauthorised access to computer material, involving a sum of more than S$650,000 withdrawn.

Various other charges were taken into consideration during sentencing. They were:

• Eight charges of amalgamated abetment by conspiracy to gain unauthorised access of computer material involving S$211,000.
• Three charges of retaining items for use in committing the offences
• One charge of fraudulent possession of property

Supervised probation is generally imposed on offenders aged under 21 where it is considered appropriate by the sentencing judge. It allows the offender to remain in society subject to probation conditions such as curfews.

The other co-accused, 22-year-old Singaporean Kong Jia Quan, has a warrant of arrest against him because he absconded in 2023 while criminal proceedings against him were still ongoing. 

While delivering the sentence, District Judge Eddy Tham Tong Kong said that Tan is "treading on thin ground" and that this would be his "one last chance".

WHAT HAPPENED

Court documents showed that Kong introduced Tan to the job of a runner in August last year for a syndicate based in Johor Bahru.

After Tan agreed to take up the job, he was added to a chat group on messaging platform Telegram where he would receive instructions from the syndicate.

The syndicate members would either hand him bank cards directly or through parcels delivered via logistics company Lalamove.

The syndicate would then inform Tan of the amounts to withdraw from each card and the one-time passwords to withdraw the cash from ATMs.

He was told of where to meet a member of the syndicate to hand over the cash withdrawn.

Each time a set of cash withdrawals was made, Tan and Kong would get 1 per cent commission of the total amount withdrawn, which they split equally between themselves.

Court documents stated that Tan worked as a runner with a male Malaysian. He would work from Thursdays to Saturdays each week, while the Malaysian would work the rest of the week.

In total, the duo withdrew S$1,640,160 from 27 bank accounts through 407 ATM withdrawals. Of this sum, S$293,755.10 was traced to police reports filed by scam victims.

When asked by the judge what amount of the S$1.64 million was withdrawn by Tan, the prosecution said that it could not verify the amount because the police were unable to track down the Malaysian.

Besides that, Tan also helped the syndicate withdraw another S$357,680 from four bank accounts. He earned about S$4,000, which he has spent on personal expenses.

In total, the duo helped the syndicate withdraw about S$2.2 million in cash between August and November 2023.

'LAST CHANCE'

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Ariel Tan sought a sentence of 21 months' probation.

She noted that although Tan's offences are serious and numerous, his impetus for offending has been removed since he no longer lives in the condominium with his girlfriend.

She added that he has moved back to live with his mother, who has agreed to surpervise him as he serves his probation.

The lawyer agreed with the prosecution, adding that Tan has ceased contact with his friends who are "not good influences".

Before handing out the sentence, District Judge Tham asked if Tan understood the seriousness of his actions and questioned why he should be put on probation.

Tan then told the court that he had cooperated fully with the police during investigations.

"Mr Jervis Tan, you are treading on thin ground here. But I will give you one last chance," the judge said.

Should Tan breach any of the probation requirements, such as a curfew, District Judge Tham said that he would have "no hesitation" to revoke probation and sentence Tan again.

"But if you seize the opportunity and comply, then good for you, you will still have a clean record at the end of the probation period," he added.

Tan will be back in court in six months for a probation review.