‘Messiah’ hacker hit with 105 more charges

SINGAPORE — An additional 105 computer misuse charges were pressed against alleged “Messiah” hacker James Raj Arokiasamy yesterday, bringing the total number of charges he faces to 162.

The new charges relate to the alleged scanning of several government-related websites — including those of the Singapore Prison Service, Singapore Elections Department and Ministry of Communications and Information — as well as unauthorised access to Fuji Xerox’s web server.

James Raj is also accused of hacking into and making unauthorised modifications to City Harvest Church co-founder and pop singer Ms Sun Ho’s official website, and scanning several City Harvest Church-related web servers.

These offences were allegedly committed between March and November last year.

James Raj was first brought to court in November last year for hacking into the Ang Mo Kio Town Council website under the moniker of “Messiah”, while operating out of an apartment in Kuala Lumpur.

In June, he was charged with another 52 counts of computer misuse offences, including for hacking into the People’s Action Party Community Foundation web server and the Straits Times blog, as well as additional charges for the Ang Mo Kio Town Council website hacking incident.

He also faces four drug-related charges. A pre-trial conference date has been set for tomorrow. OLIVIA SIONG