SINGAPORE: The group of Singaporeans who ran a major scam operation in Cambodia may have received a tip-off as the authorities closed in on the operations in Phnom Penh.

The raid on Sept 9 at a house and warehouse was led by the Cambodian National Police’s (CNP) Anti-Cyber Crime Department.

The Straits Times understands that members of the organized crime group—comprising  27 Singaporeans and seven Malaysians—escaped the dragnet and left for Myanmar.

At least one Malaysian was arrested by the Cambodian authorities when he returned to Phnom Penh.

The Singapore Police Force, which conducted simultaneous raids on Sept 9 at several properties in Singapore, including apartments and hotel rooms, arrested 15 suspects in connection with the same operation.

The 12 Singaporeans, two Malaysians and a Filipina have been charged under the Organized Crime Act and denied bail.

Some of those arrested had allegedly acted as callers for the syndicate and had just returned from Cambodia.

SPF also issued warrants of arrest for the 34 individuals on the run.

The gang became involved in scam operations, primarily government impersonation scams, some time in the middle of 2024.

The group was allegedly led by Ng Wei Liang, 32. He is one of the suspects on the run.

After allegedly recruiting his girlfriend, his brother, and a cousin, Wei Liang started expanding the gang. He recruited at least nine Malaysians, to target victims there as well.

In Singapore, the gang is said to be behind at least 438 cases, which saw victims in Singapore lose at least RM132.21 million ($41 million).

ST understands that the gang had moved into a large mansion in Phnom Penh to operate its business. It allegedly paid protection money to stave off the local authorities.

Gang members rented apartments nearby, with many flying in and out of Cambodia for the week­end to help run the operation and gamble in the casinos.

As its business grew, the gang tried to recruit more Singaporeans, tapping a firm in the Republic that conducted a recruitment exercise for roles that appeared to be with legitimate businesses.

ST had previously reported on such recruitment exercises that were used by  companies like Singapore-based Changting Network Technology.

The firm had advertised for roles supposedly based in Singapore but which were in fact for the Koh Kong Resort, a facility in Cambodia sanctioned by the US for ill-treating trafficked workers at online scam centers.

The resort was also cited by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in a scam-related report.

Ng and his gang communicated on the Telegram platform, which provides secrecy through end-to-end encryption with messages that are not synced to the cloud.

They were successful in operating a government impersonation scam on account of their accent, with victims in Singapore believing that they were representatives of SPF or the Monetary Authority of Singapore.