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SINGAPORE: A 23-year-old Malaysian man named Yap Ching Gun was convicted on Wednesday (April 29) for his involvement in an investment scam of an elderly victim. 

Yap, who has been sentenced to seven months’ jail and one stroke of the cane, is the first person in Singapore to receive a caning for the offence of being a money mule in a scamming scheme.

The Public Affairs Department of the Singapore Police Force said in a statement on Wednesday evening that Yap was convicted of one count of being concerned in an arrangement to facilitate another person’s control of benefits from criminal conduct under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992 (CDSA) for his role in cash from an elderly victim of an investment scam in Singapore.

The Police added that Yap had been recruited through a Telegram message by an individual who was unknown to him. This person asked him to collect money from the elderly victim, who had been deceived into handing cash over to a mule as part of an investment scam. 

After he collected the money from the victim, Yap, in turn, gave the money to another man he did not know.

The victim had been told that the money would be deposited as investment capital into a fictitious investment brokerage company named “Maplerock.” 

According to the police, Yap was responsible for the losses of the elderly person, which amounted to at least JPY1,000,000 (around S$8,198.)

“Yap’s conviction marks the first instance of caning being imposed on accused persons convicted of money laundering offences related to scam activities under the amended CDSA. This follows the introduction of discretionary caning for scam money mules under the legislative amendments that took effect on 30 December 2025,” the Police noted.

The amendments said that scammers, as well as members or recruiters of scam syndicates, would face a mandatory caning of a minimum of six strokes up to a maximum of 24 strokes. 

Additionally, people who act as scam mules, who enable scammers by laundering scam proceeds, would face discretionary caning of up to 12 strokes, including certain money-laundering offences under the CDSA. 

“The Police take a serious stance against any person who may be involved in scams, and perpetrators will be dealt with in accordance with the law,” the SPF added. /TISG

Read also: S$13M lost to 411 scammers and money mules in over 1,500 cases

This article (Malaysian man, 23, first to receive caning in SG for money mule role in elderly victim scam) first appeared on The Independent Singapore News.