Teen, 16, among 11 accused of handing over SIM cards registered in their names to syndicate
Nine men and two women, aged between 16 and 40, are expected to be charged in court on Aug 26 for providing fraudulently registered postpaid SIM cards for monetary gain.
Preliminary investigations revealed that they were purportedly offered cash rewards between $5 and $20 per registered SIM card, said the police.
Each of these subscribers had allegedly handed over between 17 and 39 SIM cards to the criminal syndicate. The SIM cards were registered under their names.
The 11 suspects were allegedly instructed to sign up and purchase SIM cards in bulk across different retailers before handing them over to their couriers.
Criminal syndicates exploit local SIM cards and eSIMs as a channel of communication for scams, unlicensed moneylending and vice, among other illicit activities.
The offence of knowingly providing a fraudulently registered SIM card to another person to facilitate a crime for any gain carries a fine not exceeding $10,000, imprisonment up to three years, or both.
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