Yip Chee Ming, 30, had pleaded guilty to one count of belonging to an organized crime syndicate, with a separate cheating charge taken into consideration, CNA reported.

The syndicate operated out of Phnom Penh and impersonated Singapore government officials to defraud Singaporeans. Between Sept. 3, 2024 and Sept. 5, 2025 it was tied to at least 528 reported cases and about S$52.5 million ($40.6 million) in losses.

That total included S$11.8 million ($9.1 million) taken from at least 90 elderly victims, The Straits Times reported. Its victims ranged in age from 26 to 84.

At the trial on June 26, Deputy Principal District Judge Luke Tan rejected the argument that Yip's failure as a scammer made him any less guilty. Yip had knowingly signed up for the money, understood the targets were Singaporeans, agreed to a salary and commission, and was handed the tools to defraud people.

He walked away not out of conscience but because, in the judge's words, he was "essentially fired because he could not confidently perform scam calls."

Yip's lawyer had asked for 13.8 months, stressing that prosecutors themselves conceded he never completed a single scam call, stayed only briefly, and was never paid a cent. Prosecutors wanted at least 18 months.

He got into the ring through a friend named Jason, whom he met at a Kuala Lumpur bar in October 2024. Jason wanted the Cambodia job but not alone, so Yip came along.

A syndicate leader, Tang Soon Wah, added them to a Telegram group and promised about US$10,000 a month with travel paid.

They were flown over and toured the compound, a five-story building ringed by security guards, where callers worked from makeshift soundproof booths.

Only after Yip agreed and returned on Nov. 21, 2024, the group already relocating over fears of a police raid, did he learn the real pay: US$1,800 a month plus a 1% commission, all in cryptocurrency, Shin Min Daily News reported.

His job was to pose as a bank officer, alarm victims about suspicious account activity, and pass them to a scammer higher up. He got a phone loaded with scam tools, a list of Singaporean targets, and a script he memorized but could not deliver.

He closed nothing on Nov. 22, failed again the next day, and was fired on Nov. 23. Tang wiped Yip's phone of any trace of the operation before sending him home to Malaysia that night, unpaid.

By February 2025 Yip was driving deliveries in Singapore for about S$2,300 ($1,780) a month, roughly what the scam job's base salary would have paid.

Police arrested him on Sept. 9, 2025, one of 12 people charged over the syndicate. 21 people linked to it have been arrested and 31 remain at large, with Singapore police pursuing Interpol red notices, Shin Min reported.

Belonging to an organized crime group in Singapore can bring a fine of up to S$100,000 ($77,000), five years in jail, or both. Yip's cooperation and his offer to testify against the others trimmed his term.

Government official impersonation scams more than doubled in Singapore in 2025, from 1,504 cases to 3,363, even as overall scam numbers fell, ranking as the fifth most common type, The Straits Times reported.