The elderly woman looked nervous as she entered the shop at People’s Park Complex.

Accompanied by a younger woman, she said she needed to remit $180,000 to a beneficiary in China.

The younger woman also kept hurrying the staff at Hanshan Money Express Remittance.

Mr Li Shu, 36, one of the remittance tellers, felt something was amiss.

His hunch was right: The elderly woman was a victim of a parcel scam.

The younger woman, a suspect, had accompanied her to the shop to remit the money.

But thanks to Mr Li and his colleagues, the money never went through.

For foiling the scam attempt and bringing it to the attention of the police, Mr Li, a fellow remittance teller, Ms Han Gui Yuan, 46, and the director of the remittance agency, who wished to be known only as Ms K.E. Thng, won a commendation from the police yesterday.

Recalling the incident on June 24, Mr Li said he became suspicious when he heard the large sum of money the women wanted.

He told The New Paper: “Auntie (the 80-year-old victim) didn’t dare to speak when I asked her questions. She was nervous.”

“(The younger) woman’s actions were not normal. She kept hurrying me to make the transaction,” he said.

He probed them with questions about the transaction.

The younger woman claimed that they were remitting money to purchase expensive Chinese medicinal herbs.

Still wary of their motives, Mr Li decided to probe further.

“(The suspect) kept asking me when the money would arrive. Because I thought the (amount) was odd, I purposely said that it would arrive only the following week to see her reaction,” he said.

The two women then left after being told that the transaction would be delayed.

Mr Li discussed the incident with his more experienced colleague, Ms Han and decided to report the matter to the company’s Head of Retail Operations.

SUSPICIOUS

The matter was brought to the attention of their director, Ms Thng, who tried to contact the elderly woman for more information.

She was surprised when her call was answered by the younger woman instead.

Ms Thng said: “(The suspect) asked me why I was asking her so many questions.

“She claimed to have transferred money before and that there are many other remittance companies she could patronise if we declined.

“I felt the case was very suspicious so I withheld the funds.”

Ms Thng decided to alert the police, who arrived and tried in vain to contact the victim.

They eventually sent her a text message.

A police spokesman told TNP that the elderly victim, a retired piano teacher, was traumatised by the scam and was wary of answering her phone.

Fortunately, the victim’s brother, who lives with her, saw the message on her phone.

He took his sister to the remittance company the next day.

Police investigations later revealed that the victim had received a phone call claiming that she had an illegal parcel overseas.

She was threatened with imprisonment if she did not cooperate.

She was accompanied by the 65-year-old female suspect to withdraw money from the bank, before proceeding to remit the funds.

This is not the first scam case the company has dealt with.

In the past, victims have been told by scammers that they have won lotteries or lucky draws, and were tricked into parting with their money to pay “administration fees” to secure their cash prizes.

Deputy Assistant Commisioner (DAC) Arthur Law, 46, who presented the commendation plaques, warned the public to be cautious of such scams.

“We hope to work closely with various stakeholders like banks and remittance companies. If they come across victims, they should inform the police,” DAC Law said.

aryat@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on July 8, 2016.
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SINGAPORE – A 51-year-old Singaporean has been fined $21,000 for falsely declaring salaries to obtain work passes for 10 foreign employees.

Tan Boon Sing, who is the owner of KT Engineering & Construction Pte Ltd, lied in applications made between October 2014 and May 2015 that the 10 foreign workers be paid $2,200 so as to meet the S Pass requirement.

Based on the false information he provided, the 10 workers were granted S Passes.

Investigations by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) revealed that the workers were only paid $1,400.

Tan’s company would issue a monthly $2,200 cheque to each worker, of which $800 in cash would be collected back by Tan’s former employee, 44-year-old Indian national Peyarijohn Shekatham.

The workers who refused to comply would have their work passes cancelled.

Tan has since returned the monies collected from the workers back to them.

MOM said in a press release that Peyarijohn will be dealt with in due course.

Both Tan and his company have been barred from hiring foreign workers.

“This is a serious offence and we will take strong enforcement action against such employers, including barring them from employing foreign workers,” said Mr Kandhavel Periyasamy, Director of Employment Inspectorate, MOM’s Foreign Manpower Management Division.

Since 2014, 55 employers were prosecuted for falsely declaring their foreign workers’ salaries.

Under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA), offenders found guilty of false declaration offences can be imprisoned for up to two years, or fined a maximum of $20,000, or both.

grongloh@sph.com.sg

The fate of the dolphin carcass that washed ashore at East Coast Park on Wednesday remains unclear as of yesterday, as a local museum looks into whether it is suitable for preservation.

The Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum said it hopes to “salvage the specimen for science” though its researchers will have to examine the carcass further before making a decision.

“It is likely that the dolphin’s skeleton can be processed but we don’t know for sure yet,” said the museum’s curator of mammals and birds, Marcus Chua.

He has identified the carcass as an indo-pacific humpbacked dolphin, also known as the pink dolphin. It is the most commonly sighted dolphin species in Singapore waters.

Sales manager Nigel Lim, 36, was cycling with his wife and two children, aged two and four, at about 11am on Wednesday when he discovered the dead dolphin on the beach next to Big Splash.

“I happened to park my bicycle by the side and walked to see the beach and boats. It looked like a big floating buoy but upon closer look, it was a carcass,” said Mr Lim, who posted a picture of it on Facebook, before a friend alerted the authorities.

When The Straits Times visited the area yesterday morning, flies were seen swarming around the punctured abdomen of the carcass. It appeared to be badly decomposed.

Workers were later seen removing the carcass from the beach to a lorry just before noon, about 25 hours after it was first discovered.

Earlier at about 9.45am, a three-member team from the National Parks Board had cordoned off the carcass.

They left soon after.

Later, the carcass was removed by workers from Ramky Cleantech Services.

Donning face masks and gloves, they were seen pouring disinfectant over the carcass and surrounding area.

They wrapped it in trash bags and canvas sheets, before lifting it up with a large canvas bag to a lorry.

Ramky Cleantech Services site manager Jenny Khng, who oversaw the operation, said the carcass was taken to its Loyang office – to await further instructions from the authorities.

The Straits Times understands that the museum has since taken over the 2m-long carcass but Mr Chua declined to reveal its current location.

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