Retiree transferred $1.19m to scammers in just a month

Her fear of being linked to 3b money laundering case led her to fall for scam

- David Sun

When told by a "police officer" that she might be implicated in money laundering, a woman feared she would be dragged into the $3 billion case.

Wanting to be known only as Grace, the retiree, 67, said that even though she was never involved in crime, she thought about Singapore's biggest money laundering case that saw 10 foreigners jailed and deported.

Threatened with legal action, she agreed to help in "investigations" and transferred a total of $1.19 million to people claiming to be a bank officer, police investigator and public prosecutors.

And even after she talked to real police officers, she said she still does not want to know how much she has lost.

Grace spoke to the media on Nov 28. Before the interview, organised by the police, reporters were briefed by officers that she did not know the full amount, and did not want to know.

Grace told reporters she had no intention of telling her husband or family members.

She said: "Even when I was giving my statement to the police, I said I don't want to know how much I've lost. Even until today, I didn't really look into it." Grace had been visiting relatives in China when she received a call on the morning of May 15 from someone claiming to be from a bank, who said her card had been used for suspicious transactions.

The call was transferred to someone claiming to be a police officer, who told Grace to move away from her family to discuss confidential matters and to not tell them anything.

She said: "They told me, 'You must keep it confidential. If you mention it, I cannot do my investigative work. So, I just accepted it." For the next three hours, Grace locked herself in a room in the relatives' house, speaking to the scammers over the phone.