MHA 'particularly concerned' by number of young scam offenders, seeks tougher sentences

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is "particularly concerned" that many young people are getting involved in scams-related offences, with over 1,000 youths investigated in connection with scam reports, said Senior Minister K Shanmugam on Tuesday (Oct 6).

And while it is understandable that people may look at the age of offender and feel sympathetic, he reminded members of parliament that in 2025, over 5,000 elderly persons lost around $200 million to scams.

The majority, he pointed out, are retired and unemployed.

"You can see the consequences that can flow from the actions of a money mule, regardless of how young or old the mule is," Shanmugam, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs said in Parliament.

He was responding to parliamentary questions filed by MPs Christopher de Souza (Holland-Bukit Timah GRC), Dr Wan Rizal (Jalan Besar GRC) and Cassandra Lee (Tampines GRC).

They had asked if the Government will consider introducing additional legislative amendments or measures with regard to sentencing provisions for youth involved in scam-related offences.

Deterrence and prevention

Reiterating Singapore's approach in considering penalties to be imposed for an offence, Shanmugam said that there are four aspects: deterrence, prevention, retribution and rehabilitation.

In the context of scams, the senior minister stated that deterrence — to the offender, from reoffending; and deterrence to other would-be perpetrators — is the most important principle.

"For scam-related offences, the Government has made a deliberate policy judgment that deterrence and prevention must carry greater weight," he added.

"That is because rehabilitation of the individual offender has to be balanced against the need to deter others from facilitating scams, and thereby prevent many more people from becoming victims."

Turning to new legislations in the last three years to tighten penalties for scams-related offences, including the introduction of caning , Shanmugam highlighted that Parliament deliberately made no distinction between young and not so young offenders.

The Sentencing Advisory Panel, which includes members from the judiciary, then worked on sentencing guidelines for scam offences.

He noted that the guidelines recommend imprisonment or reformative training when sentencing scams-related offenders, including those below the age of 21, except those dealt with in the Youth Court.

And while scam losses have fallen slightly from the peak of $1.1 billion in 2024, Shanmugam noted that scammers have continued to adapt. "This is not the time to go soft," he said.

New law will make clear need to impose deterrent sentences

The senior minister then turned to a recent case involving 25-year-old Mohamed Erzan Taib Zohri.

In its Sept 10 judgement delivered by a three-judge coram comprising Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, Justice of the Court of Appeal Ang Cheng Hock, and Justice Hoo Sheau Peng, the High Court ruled that courts must not treat imprisonment or reformative training as the default sentence for young offenders convicted of scams-related offences.

Among its sentencing considerations, Justice Ang, who delivered the court's judgement said: "The primary sentencing consideration for young offenders will generally, or presumptively, be rehabilitation."

The court went on to allow four of seven Magistrate's Appeals, substituting orders of reformative training with probation.

In his reply on Tuesday, Shanmugam pointed out that the rationale set out in the judgement contradicts the approach set out in the sentencing guidelines, which state that “fines, probation, and community sentences are generally not appropriate.”

The guidelines also state that imprisonment or reformative training, whichever is more appropriate, should be considered given the need for deterrence and the public interest in suppressing scams.

Natural for courts to feel sympathy for young offenders: Shanmugam

He noted that while it is understandable for the Court to feel sympathy for youth offenders, it does not have policy perspectives and the data on the scale of the problem of scams and scammers.

"Tthe Government has to consider the wider consequences. If we are lenient towards scammers and those who facilitate scams, many more Singaporeans will fall victim," he said.

"And if young offenders are being treated more leniently simply because of their age, scam syndicates will have every incentive to recruit more young people as mules. We cannot allow this to happen."

Shanmugam highlighted that the approach in the recent rounds of legislative amendments to scams-related law has been to send a strong message that every offender, regardless of age, will be seriously dealt with.

He noted that while the legislation and sentencing guidelines have been clear, the High Court has expressed a different view. "We respect the Court’s views," Shanmugam added.

Meanwhile, to ensure and reinforce that the policy position expressed is clear, Shanmugam revealed that his ministry will table legislation in Parliament soon.

"To give effect to the policy position I have outlined, we will table legislation in Parliament soon, which will be quite express and will make clear that the position in Erzan is not to be followed.

"We will reinforce through the law the approach of imposing deterrent sentences on all scammers and those who facilitate scams, including those who are young."

These, he said, are intended to ensure that criminal syndicates cannot exploit the combination of inexperience, financial temptation and digital exposure in young people.

内政部高级部长尚穆根周二（10月6日）表示，内政部“尤其关注”许多年轻人卷入诈骗相关犯罪活动，已有超过1000名青年因诈骗举报而接受调查。

虽然人们看到犯罪者的年龄可能会产生同情，这是可以理解的，但他提醒国会议员，到 2025 年，将有超过 5000 名老年人因诈骗损失约 2 亿美元。

他指出，其中大多数人已经退休或失业。

“无论洗钱骡子是年轻还是年老，你都可以看到其行为可能带来的后果，”尚穆根在国会表示，他同时也是国家安全统筹部长和内政部长。

他是在回应国会议员克里斯托弗·德·索萨（荷兰-武吉知马集选区）、万·里扎尔博士（惹兰勿刹集选区）和卡桑德拉·李（淡滨尼集选区）提出的议会质询。

他们询问政府是否会考虑对涉及诈骗相关犯罪的青少年的量刑规定提出额外的立法修正案或措施。

威慑与预防

尚穆根重申了新加坡在考虑对犯罪行为施加处罚时所采取的方法，他表示，有四个方面：威慑、预防、报复和改造。

这位高级部长在谈到诈骗问题时表示，威慑——对犯罪者防止再次犯罪；以及对其他潜在的犯罪者起到威慑作用——是最重要的原则。

“对于诈骗相关犯罪，政府已做出明确的政策判断，即威慑和预防必须发挥更大的作用，”他补充道。

“这是因为，对个别罪犯的改造必须与阻止其他人参与诈骗活动、从而防止更多人成为受害者的需要相平衡。”

谈到过去三年为加强对诈骗相关罪行的处罚而出台的新法律，包括引入鞭刑，尚穆根强调，国会故意没有区分年轻的罪犯和不太年轻的罪犯。

量刑咨询小组（成员包括司法部门人员）随后制定了诈骗罪的量刑指南。

他指出，指导方针建议对诈骗相关罪犯（包括 21 岁以下的罪犯）判刑时处以监禁或改造培训，但青少年法庭处理的案件除外。

尽管诈骗损失已从2024年11亿美元的峰值略有下降，但尚穆根指出，诈骗分子仍在不断变换伎俩。“现在绝不是放松警惕的时候，”他说。

新法将明确规定必须施以具有威慑力的刑罚。

这位高级部长随后谈到了最近一起涉及 25 岁青年穆罕默德·埃尔赞·泰布·佐赫里的案件。

高等法院于 9 月 10 日作出判决，由首席大法官 Sundaresh Menon、上诉法院法官 Ang Cheng Hock 和法官 Hoo Sheau Peng 组成的三名法官合议庭裁定，法院不得将监禁或改造训练作为对被判犯有诈骗相关罪行的青少年罪犯的默认刑罚。

宣读法庭判决的安格法官在量刑考虑因素中表示：“对年轻罪犯而言，主要的量刑考虑因素通常是或推定是改造。”

法院随后批准了七项地方法官上诉中的四项，将改造性培训令改为缓刑令。

尚穆根在周二的答复中指出，判决中阐述的理由与量刑指南中阐述的方法相矛盾，该指南规定“罚款、缓刑和社区服务通常不合适”。

该指南还指出，考虑到威慑的需要和打击诈骗的公共利益，应考虑监禁或改造培训，以更合适的方式为准。

法院对年轻罪犯抱有同情心是人之常情：尚穆根

他指出，虽然法院对青少年罪犯表示同情是可以理解的，但它没有政策视角，也没有关于诈骗和诈骗者问题的规模的数据。

“政府必须考虑更广泛的后果。如果我们对诈骗犯和那些协助诈骗的人过于宽容，将会有更多新加坡人成为受害者，”他说。

“如果仅仅因为年龄就对年轻罪犯网开一面，诈骗团伙就会更有动机招募更多年轻人充当运钞车。我们绝不能允许这种情况发生。”

尚穆根强调，最近几轮与诈骗相关的法律修正案所采取的方针是发出一个强烈的信号，即无论年龄大小，所有违法者都将受到严肃处理。

他指出，虽然相关立法和量刑指南已经很明确，但高等法院却表达了不同的观点。“我们尊重法院的观点，”尚穆根补充道。

与此同时，为了确保和强化所表达的政策立场，尚穆根透露，他的部门将很快向国会提交立法文件。

“为了落实我所阐述的政策立场，我们将很快向议会提交立法，该立法将非常明确，并明确表示不会遵循埃尔赞案的立场。

“我们将通过法律强化对所有诈骗犯和诈骗协助者（包括未成年人）处以威慑性刑罚的做法。”

他说，这些措施旨在确保犯罪集团无法利用年轻人缺乏经验、受金钱诱惑以及接触数字技术等因素的综合作用。