Jail, caning for man who posed as cop, collected cash and valuables from scam victims

On Oct 1, Sugumaran Mohan, 21, was sentenced to three years, two months and two weeks’ jail, as well as two strokes of the cane.

ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG

Published Oct 01, 2026, 05:45 PM

Updated Oct 01, 2026, 05:46 PM

Sugumaran Mohan, who had posed as a police officer, collected nearly $200,000 in cash and valuables from four scam victims in Singapore.

He worked as a runner for a crime syndicate, receiving instructions from a boss named "Jack" via Telegram.

He was sentenced to three years, two months and two weeks’ jail, and two strokes of the cane.

SINGAPORE – A runner for a transnational crime syndicate, who sometimes posed as a police officer, collected cash and valuables worth nearly $200,000 in total from four victims of a government official impersonation scam.

The Malaysian had pleaded guilty to dealing with the benefits of crime.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Matthew Choo said that the four female victims were between 38 and 73 years old.

Each woman had handed Sugumaran cash and valuables worth between $10,029 and $132,206.

Sugumaran, who was looking for a job before Jan 6, 2026 , was introduced to another Malaysian man, Kathiresan Krishnan, 28. The man’s case is pending.

The DPP said Kathiresan told Sugumaran about a “courier” job that involved collecting and delivering a company’s money in Singapore.

Sugumaran, who was promised RM2,000 (S$625) per month, accepted the job offer.

According to court documents, Kathiresan told him that their boss, known only as “Jack”, would give instructions via messaging platform Telegram.

Kathiresam also told Sugumaran to dress formally and avoid showing any tattoos.

While on the job, Sugumaran had to wear a mask to obscure part of his face.

Court documents stated that he suspected the job had “something to do with illegal or bad work”.

He also suspected that Jack was using him to do “bad business” that involved “lying to get money”.

The DPP said: “(Sugumaran) did not know and did not ask for the name of the company he was supposedly working for.

“He did not know what the company’s business was and did not conduct any checks to verify the company’s business.”

Despite this, he met the four victims on separate occasions between Jan 6 and 28 to collect cash and valuables worth nearly $200,000 in total.

He travelled from Malaysia to Singapore to meet the victims in places including Clementi and Sengkang.

He identified himself to the victims by using a codeword or by posing as a police officer.

The women then handed him the cash and valuables, including gold jewellery.

After that, he handed the loot to other unknown individuals, and returned to Malaysia after completing his tasks.

Sugumaran’s offences came to light when he was in Singapore on Jan 29 to meet a fifth woman in Waterloo Street.

He approached the 38-year-old woman and pretended to be an officer from the Singapore Police Force (SPF).

He showed her what he claimed was an SPF warrant card, which he had obtained from Jack.

The woman handed Sugumaran gold bars and jewellery worth more than $126,000 in total.

But she later became suspicious and took back the valuables.

Sugumaran returned to Malaysia and decided to stop working for Jack.

After the woman made a police report, Sugumaran was arrested when he returned to Singapore on March 19.

Shaffiq Alkhatib is The Straits Times’ court correspondent, covering mainly criminal cases heard at the State Courts.

10 月 1 日，21 岁的苏古马兰·莫汉被判处三年两个月零两周监禁，并处以两下鞭刑。

《海峡时报》摄影：KELVIN CHNG

发布于 2026 年 10 月 1 日下午 5:45

更新于2026年10月1日下午5:46

苏古马兰·莫汉冒充警察，从新加坡的四名诈骗受害者那里骗取了近 20 万美元的现金和贵重物品。

他为犯罪集团当跑腿，通过 Telegram 接收一个名叫“杰克”的老板的指令。

他被判处三年两个月零两周监禁，并处以两下鞭刑。

新加坡——一名为跨国犯罪集团效力的跑腿人员，有时会冒充警察，从四名政府官员冒充诈骗案的受害者手中骗取了总价值近 20 万美元的现金和贵重物品。

这名马来西亚男子已承认从事犯罪活动并从中获利。

副检察官Matthew Choo表示，四名女性受害者的年龄介于38岁至73岁之间。

每名女子都向苏古马兰交付了价值 10,029 美元至 132,206 美元的现金和贵重物品。

在 2026 年 1 月 6 日之前一直在找工作的 Sugumaran 被介绍认识了另一名马来西亚男子 Kathiresan Krishnan，28 岁。该男子的案件仍在审理中。

检方称，卡蒂雷桑告诉苏古马兰，他有一份“快递”工作，需要在新加坡收取和递送一家公司的钱款。

苏古马兰被承诺每月获得 2000 令吉（625 新元）的薪水，他接受了这份工作。

根据法庭文件，卡蒂雷桑告诉他，他们的老板，只被称为“杰克”，会通过即时通讯平台 Telegram 下达指令。

Kathiresam 还告诉 Sugumaran 要穿着正式，避免露出任何纹身。

苏古马兰在工作时必须戴上口罩遮住部分脸部。

法庭文件显示，他怀疑这份工作“与非法或劣质工作有关”。

他还怀疑杰克利用他进行“不良生意”，包括“通过撒谎来获取金钱”。

检方表示：“（苏古马兰）不知道他所声称工作的公司的名称，也没有询问过。

“他不知道这家公司是做什么的，也没有进行任何核实来确认这家公司的业务。”

尽管如此，他还是在 1 月 6 日至 28 日期间，多次与四名受害者见面，收取了总价值近 20 万美元的现金和贵重物品。

他从马来西亚前往新加坡，在金文泰和盛港等地会见了受害者。

他通过使用暗语或假扮警察来向受害者表明自己的身份。

然后，这些妇女把现金和贵重物品，包括金饰，交给了他。

之后，他将赃物交给其他身份不明的人，完成任务后返回马来西亚。

1月29日，苏古马兰在新加坡滑铁卢街与第五名女子见面时，他的罪行被揭露。

他接近这位 38 岁的女子，并假装是新加坡警察部队 (SPF) 的一名警官。

他向她出示了他声称是从杰克那里得到的SPF（新加坡警察部队）身份证明卡。

该女子向苏古玛兰赠送了总价值超过 12.6 万美元的金条和珠宝。

但她后来起了疑心，把贵重物品拿了回来。

苏古玛兰返回马来西亚后，决定不再为杰克工作。

该女子向警方报案后，苏古马兰于 3 月 19 日返回新加坡时被捕。

沙菲克·阿尔哈提卜是《海峡时报》的法庭记者，主要报道国家法院审理的刑事案件。