Fresh Charges for 5 Men Suspected of Involvement in Global Cyber Syndicate

Singapore has handed down fresh charges to five men suspected of involvement in a global cyber syndicate, bringing the total number of individuals charged to seven. The five Chinese nationals, including Yan Peijian, Huang Qin Zheng, Liu Yuqi, Chen Yiren, and Sun Jiao, were among those arrested last September during simultaneous raids at multiple residential locations.

According to authorities, the men are suspected of carrying out malicious cyber operations from Singapore, with scores of laptops containing software to control malware and hacking tools, mobile phones, and cash seized during the operation. The police involved over 160 officers from various units and the Internal Security Department in the raids.

Sun Jiao Faces Highest Number of Fresh Charges

One of the men facing the most charges is Sun Jiao, who is accused of supplying personal information of 6,800 unknown people from Vietnam to two individuals on September 7, 2024. Under the Computer Misuse Act, Sun faces 15 charges related to hacking and unauthorized access to data.

The alleged offences span from April 2023 to September 2024, with several charges detailing how Sun retained malware to obtain unauthorized access to data held in computers. The men are also accused of conspiring to modify the contents of computers without authorization, involving injecting scripts into websites to gain remote control over them.

Coefficients of Deceit

Another three men, Yan Peijian, Huang Qin Zheng, and Liu Yuqi, are accused of providing false information about their employment. According to authorities, Yan allegedly lied to an employment inspector on September 19, 2024, claiming he was hired by a manufacturing company as a sales representative.

Huang is accused of lying to an employment inspector on the same day by stating that he was employed by two companies as a process maintenance and construction worker. Liu is also accused of making a false statement in an application to renew a work pass on April 1, 2024, by declaring that he would be employed by a company as a process maintenance and construction worker.

Organized Crime Ties

Between September 7, 2022, and September 9, 2024, all three men were allegedly members of an organized criminal group whose sole purpose was to obtain financial benefits. Chen Yiren is accused of employing four female foreign employees without valid work passes as cleaners at a residence.

Chen is also said to have given false information while applying to renew a work pass on April 19, 2024, by declaring that he would be employed at a company as a process maintenance and construction worker. One of the charges involved alcohol obtained through criminal conduct, with Chen accused of holding onto the access card of a storage facility with the alcohol and failing to account for it satisfactorily.

Next Steps

All five men will return to court for pre-trial conferences on Wednesday. The cases of the other two individuals, Singaporean Goh Shi Yong and Chinese national Zhang Qingqiao, are pending. The investigation is ongoing, with authorities working to unravel the complex web of cybercrime in Singapore.