SINGAPORE – A scammer deceived several people into transferring cash totalling more than $400,000 to him.
Muhammad Nur Shukry Zaini, 23, also deceived some of his victims into handing him multiple mobile phones worth nearly $40,000 in total.
On March 13, he was sentenced to four years and two months’ jail, and a fine of $1,200.
For a traffic offence, he was also disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for a year from his release date.
Nur had pleaded guilty to multiple charges for offences such as drug consumption, and seven counts of cheating linked to an investment scam.
He also pleaded guilty to three other cheating charges in which he duped three people into handing him seven mobile phones worth more than $14,000 in total.
More than 20 charges, including those relating to the remaining phones, were taken into consideration during his sentencing.
On the investment scam, Deputy Public Prosecutor Bryan Wong said that Nur enticed his victims to invest with “high returns and low risk investments”.
However, he could not generate and had no capability of generating such returns. He had told investigators that he committed the offences to sustain the expenses of others, including his girlfriend.
He has made no restitution to most of the seven people he duped in the investment scam.
Of the victims, one man lost $190,000 – the highest amount involved in the scam – in 2021.
The man was a shareholder in a cleaning company who found out that one of his business partners had invested a portion of the firm’s funds with Nur.
In August 2021, the victim got to know Nur, who, two months later, told him about an “investment scheme”.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Bryan Wong said: “He promised to pay his investors 10 per cent of their invested capital per month for a 9-month period.
“The accused also represented to the victim that the invested funds would be used for forex trading. The accused knew that such high returns were not possible.”
Believing him, the victim decided to invest $190,000 in total.
Soon after, Nur failed to pay the man the promised monthly investment payouts.
Suspecting that he had been scammed, the man said decided to terminate his investments with Nur, who has not made any restitution to him.
Six others also fell for the scam and they alerted the police.
Nur was arrested on Jan 13, 2022, but two days later, he was out on bail.
On Aug 24 that year, Central Narcotics Bureau officers arrested him at the void deck of a Ghim Moh block of flats and his urine samples were later tested and found to contain traces of a cannabinol derivative.
He was again released on bail, the court heard.
But in February 2023, Nur was caught in West Coast Highway for driving a vehicle without a valid driving licence.
Separately, he also cheated three people into handing over the seven mobile phones. One victim gave him three phones worth more than $5,700 in total.
He got to know the 21-year-old woman in early 2023, and asked for her help in a purported import/export business.
Nur asked her to sign up for mobile phone plans and help “export” the phones bundled with the plans for a profit.
The woman agreed after he promised to later cancel the phone plans, and pay for the cancellation fees incurred.
Between April and May 2023, she signed up for three mobile phone plans with two different telcos and received the mobile phones, which she delivered to Nur.
DPP Wong told the court: “Thereafter, the victim became personally liable for the three mobile phone plans that were signed up by her at the accused’s behest.
“The accused did not cancel the mobile phone plans (and) has not reimbursed the victim for the outstanding mobile phone plan charges.”
The woman lodged a police report in July 2023.
Court documents stated that Nur duped two other people into handing him two mobile phones each.
Officers re-arrested him on July 18, 2023, and he was charged in court the next day. He has been in remand since then.
* Shaffiq Alkhatib is The Straits Times’ court correspondent covering mainly criminal cases heard at the State Courts.
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