SINGAPORE — A man who was released from prison in 2024 after serving a sentence for cheating returned to a life of crime later that year, working for an organised criminal group in Cambodia.
While there, Muhammad Firdaus Abdul Rahman impersonated government officials in scam calls targeting Singapore residents.
After returning to Singapore, he helped collect nearly $656,800 in total from at least 14 victims.
On June 22, the 37-year-old Singaporean, who is now in remand, pleaded guilty to one count each of dealing with the benefits of criminal conduct and being a member of a criminal group.
Without revealing details, Deputy Public Prosecutor Xavier Tan told the court that Firdaus was convicted of cheating in November 2022 and was sentenced to two years and seven months’ jail.
He was later released and put on a remission order, during which he was supposed to keep himself out of trouble from Sept 24, 2024, to Aug 3, 2025.
But before October 2024, one of his friends, identified as Jackson Lim Soon Lai, told him about a “scam job” in Cambodia.
According to court documents, Lim told Firdaus that he could earn a basic pay of $1,000 on top of a three per cent commission.
Firdaus accepted the job offer even though he was still under the remission order.
He flew to Cambodia with Lim and another person known as Chris Jerome on Oct 3, 2024.
Upon landing, they took a van from the airport and went to an area near one of the country’s borders. Details about the exact location were not disclosed in court documents.
Firdaus and Jerome then went to an office guarded by about 15 people and several dogs.
The prosecutor said: “They were instructed to make calls to Singapore phone numbers and claim that they were from the ‘Singapore Cyber Emergency Response Team’, and that they were calling regarding issues related to cybersecurity.
“If the person they called believed them, they were to transfer the call to another line for one of their colleagues to talk to (the victims).”
If a victim transferred funds to the syndicate, Firdaus and Jerome would get a cut of the money, depending on who made the initial call.
Court documents stated that Firdaus saw about 60 people in the office conducting different scams.
They included women who were involved in internet love scams.
Firdaus made scam calls for about a month before he was hospitalised for an undisclosed reason.
The scam syndicate paid his medical fees, and he flew back to Singapore alone following his discharge.
After returning here, Lim asked Firdaus about information on the Singapore Police Force and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, including publicly available details on their activities and photographs.
The DPP told the court: “The accused knew that (Lim) wanted this information so that he could use it in scams. He acceded and helped (Lim) retrieve whatever information he asked for.”
On or around April 19, 2025, Lim told Firdaus that he needed help to collect packages of money and hand them to an unknown person.
According to the court documents, Lim offered to pay Firdaus, who was aware that the funds were benefits from criminal conduct.
Firdaus also knew that Lim was still based in Cambodia and was linked to transnational criminal syndicates involved in cheating offences, said the DPP.
Despite this, Firdaus did not make further inquiries and accepted the offer.
On several occasions in April and May 2025, he went to places including Raffles Place, Jurong West and Ang Mo Kio to collect nearly $656,800 from at least 14 victims of government official impersonation scams.
He received at least $1,000 for the task, the court heard.
Court documents did not state how his offences came to light, but he was arrested and charged in court in 2025.
On June 22, the prosecutor urged the court to sentence Firdaus to up to six years and three months’ jail, with an enhancement of up to 267 days behind bars linked to his remission order.
He added: “The (crime group) was well organised, as seen by its scale and number of members, training programme, and even security of its premises.
“There is also a significant negative impact caused to society as a result of the group, given the pervasiveness of such scams.”
Defence lawyer Tony Chua, however, pleaded for the court to give his client a shorter sentence.
He said that Firdaus is in poor health with a heart-related issue.
The lawyer also said that his client was in a coma for three days while he was in remand.
Firdaus will be sentenced in August.
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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
