Indian-origin teen charged for cheating bank in Singapore

Singapore, March 10

An Indian-origin teen in Singapore was charged on Friday with one count of cheating and one count of abetting an unknown person to secure unauthorised access to a bank's computer system.

Mathana Raaj Singh Balbir Singh, 19, opened a bank account and allowed others to use it after reading on messaging platform Telegram about a cash loan being offered in exchange for bank account details, The Straits Times reported.

The UOB account he opened was then allegedly used by scam syndicates to launder criminal proceeds of more than SG$249,000.

According to court documents, Singh deceived the bank into believing that he was the sole operator of the account that he was opening, and allegedly gave his i-banking login credentials to an unknown person for effecting transactions on UOB computer system without authorisation.

According to the report, Singh indicated his intention to apply for legal aid.

If found guilty of cheating, Singh can be jailed for up to three years, fined or both.

He can be jailed for up to two years, fined up to SG$5,000, or both if he is found guilty of abetting an unknown person to secure unauthorised access to a bank's computer system.

Singh will return to court on April 6.