Duo who tried using fake credit cards at shopping mall jailed 4 years each
TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — They had travelled across the Causeway, hoping to use the 12 counterfeit credit cards they had on hand to make fraudulent purchases.
But not only did Malaysians Tan Jiunn Hou and Kong Chek Hoe not succeed — the cards they were armed with failed to make valid payments — they were arrested, hauled to court, and on Wednesday (March 9) sentenced to four years’ jail each for one count of conspiring to cheat and three counts of conspiring to possess a counterfeit valuable security. Eleven similar charges were taken into consideration in their sentencing.
The court heard that Tan, 23, and Kong, 24 — who have been friends since their secondary school days in Malaysia — met in Kuala Lumpur in August last year and plotted to use counterfeit credit cards to make purchases in Singapore. They came into contact with two women named Hugo and Nicole, whom the two men claimed were associated with a criminal syndicate.
On Sept 2 last year, at around 5pm, Hugo told the duo to come to Singapore to make those purchases. That evening, Hugo and Nicole met with the duo and handed each of them an envelope containing six counterfeit credit cards embossed with their initials and a fake Hong Kong identity card.
Hugo also gave Tan RM200 (S$67.30) to buy a local SIM card upon arriving in Singapore, so that the duo could continue taking instructions from Hugo and Nicole.
Tan and Kong arrived in Johor Bahru at 10pm that day at stayed over for a night. At 8.30am the next day, they boarded a car to Singapore. Upon arrival, Tan purchased a local SIM card in the area around Orchard Road.
He then contacted Hugo, who showed him a picture of Westgate shopping mall sent to his phone. At Westgate, Tan sent a picture of the Samsung store to Hugo and Nicole, to obtain their “approval” before entering it.
There, Tan and Kong tried to purchase seven Samsung phones valued at S$8,536. However, despite swiping eight counterfeit cards they had on them, attempts to make payment were unsuccessful.
Tan and Kong left the store, but were arrested in the mall shortly after.
M/s MasterCard Worldwide and Visa Worldwide Pte Ltd verified that all 12 credit cards found on Tan and Kong are counterfeit.
In sentencing Tan and Kong, district judge Shaiffudin Saruwan noted that their offences involved a high level of premeditation and they had travelled to Singapore for the sole purpose of committing the offences. Such acts also have an adverse impact on Singapore’s reputation as a financial hub, said the judge.
