Errant subscribers offered reward of $15 to $20 for registered SIM cards, 35 arrested
The police have arrested 35 suspects and are investigating 17 others for their alleged involvement in registering SIM cards for illicit purposes.
Between Jan 8 and Jan 16, officers from the Anti-Scam Command and the seven Police Land Divisions carried out an island-wide enforcement against errant subscribers registering postpaid SIM cards that were subsequently linked to criminal activities.
A total of 22 men and 13 women, aged between 16 and 38, were arrested for their suspected involvement in providing registered postpaid SIM cards for monetary gains.
Another ten men and seven women, aged between 16 and 65, are assisting with investigations.
Preliminary investigations revealed that these errant subscribers were allegedly offered cash rewards between $15 and $20 per registered SIM card.
These subscribers were purportedly instructed to sign up and purchase SIM cards in bulk from different retailers. They then handed over between 30 and 69 registered SIM cards to a crime syndicate's courier.
"Criminal syndicates exploit local SIM cards as a channel of communication for scams, unlicensed moneylending and vice, among other illicit activities," the police said.
The offence of knowingly providing a registered SIM card to another person to facilitate a crime for any gain carries a fine of up to $10,000 and/or up to three years in jail.
The police added that they take a serious view of SIM cards being misused as a conduit for crimes, "and will not hesitate to take action against individuals who misuse their SIM cards via reselling, allowing others to use their SIM cards, helping other individuals to register or holding multiple SIM cards without a legitimate reason".
More info about such offences can be found here.
See something interesting? Contribute your story to us.
