Malaysian Courier in Singapore Gets Jail for Collecting Gold Bars from Scam Victim

A Malaysian man joined a Telegram group for job opportunities and was told to collect items, which turned out to be 1,600 gold bars from a scam victim.

The gold bars, worth over S$412,000, were taken to Malaysia and have not been recovered.

A 54-year-old Singaporean woman, the scam victim, had fallen for a government impersonation scam and thought she was a suspect in money laundering.

Turah Raju Subramaniam, a 39-year-old Malaysian man, was sentenced to 38 months in jail for assisting in criminal conduct.

He pleaded guilty to helping someone keep benefits from a crime.

Turah was introduced to job opportunities in Singapore by a friend in Malaysia.

He was added to a Telegram chat group and given instructions when he showed interest.

Turah was promised S$50 for each job and given S$500 for food and transport.

On November 6, 2025, Turah was told to go to Kranji MRT station in Singapore.

A taxi was booked for him, and he was given a photo of a middle-aged Chinese man.

Turah met the Chinese man when he got off the taxi and was handed an envelope.

The man told Turah the envelope had cash, but Turah felt unsure.

Turah took another taxi and gave the envelope to someone else.

Turah wanted to return to Malaysia but made no effort to do so.

He was told to collect one more bag before going back to Malaysia.

The bag was to be collected from a 54-year-old Singaporean woman who was a scam victim.

The woman received a call from someone claiming to be from a bank's anti-fraud department.

She was told she was a victim of identity theft and had to make a police report.

The woman was told she was a suspect in a money laundering case.

She was sent fake documents showing she was under a warrant of arrest.

The woman was told she could be protected if she did a 'priority financial check'.

She was told to transfer S$1 million from her bank account to her credit card.

The woman bought 1,600 gold bars using her credit card.

She was told to give the gold bars to a plainclothes officer named Bala Krishnan.

Turah was given a photo of the victim and told to meet her at Mustafa Centre.

Turah approached the victim and said he was Bala Krishnan.

The victim gave Turah five bags with the gold bars, and he took them to a car.

The car went to Malaysia, and Turah gave the driver the bags with the gold bars.

Turah was arrested in November 2025 when he tried to enter Singapore again.

The prosecution asked for 42 to 44 months in jail for Turah.

The prosecution said Turah's actions helped a big scam happen in Singapore.

Turah worked for a criminal group that was well-organized and could give him instructions from afar.

Turah could have been jailed for up to 10 years or fined up to S$500,000 for his crime.

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