SINGAPORE — One of the five men linked to a fake-cop ruse to rob three victims of some S$1.3 million at Dunlop Street last year has been found guilty.

Mohammad Ansari Abdul Hussain, 34, admitted to nine charges — including committing gang robbery — and faces between five and 20 years in jail, as well as at least 12 strokes of the cane. He will be sentenced on Sept 4.

The other four men accused of the crime that took place last September have claimed trial. They are Mohammad Faizal Ajmalhan, 30; Magesan Ramasamy, 34; Arunachalam Laksmanan, 34; and Chinnaya Antony Samy, 35.

Three of the men, including Mohammad Ansari, are said to have donned police uniforms to dupe their victims, who were foreign businessmen, into believing that they were conducting a search. The group allegedly restrained the businessmen with cable ties and robbed them.

Arguing for a minimum sentence of eight years in jail, prosecutor Sanjiv Vaswani said that Mohammad Ansari had not only posed as a police officer, but that the police reservist was the one who had provided the uniforms.

Also, more than 40 per cent of the loot has not been recovered, he added.

Defence lawyer Selva Naidu contended, however, that his client had committed the “least serious” form of robbery as it did not result in injuries.

He added that his client’s share of the loot was only S$250,000, even though more than S$600,000 was found on him. CLAIRE HUANG