SINGAPORE - Working as a runner for a crime syndicate, a Malaysian man travelled to Singapore and collected 1,600 gold bars worth over $412,000 from a scam victim.

Turah Raju Subramaniam, 39, told investigators he was promised $50 per job.

He said he was handed RM1,600 (S$500) for food and transportation expenses, and this amount was meant to be split with a friend, who was not named in court documents.

Turah was sentenced to three years and two months’ jail on July 21 after pleading guilty to handling the benefits of criminal conduct.

The authorities have not recovered the gold bars and no restitution had been made to the victim, a 54-year-old Singaporean woman.

Turah’s legal woes started in Malaysia when the unnamed friend introduced him to job opportunities in Singapore.

Turah was added to a Telegram group after he said he was interested.

Meanwhile, the victim received a call from somebody claiming to be from a bank’s anti-fraud department.

The caller told her she was a victim of an identity theft linked to $5,400 in fraudulent transactions. The matter had to be escalated to the Ministry of Law, which could help her lodge a police report.

The woman was transferred to another person, who pretended to be a senior investigating officer from the ministry. She was then told she was a suspect in a money-laundering case.

The victim was sent several documents which purported to show she was under a warrant of arrest and there was an order to freeze her assets.

This made her panic and she was told she could be protected under a ‘priority financial check’ to change her status from ‘suspect’ to ‘witness’, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Yohanes Ng.

She was then transferred to yet another person purporting to be a police officer.

The victim was told to transfer $1 million from her bank account to her credit card, which she did.

She was then instructed to use the card to buy 2kg of gold bars at Mustafa Centre department store in Little India to fulfil the “priority financial check requirements”.

A plainclothes officer named “Bala Krishnan” bearing ID number BK 1505 would collect the gold bars from her.

The scammer then gave her Turah’s description.

The victim bought 1,600 gold bars worth over $412,000 from Mustafa Centre. The bars were then placed inside five bags.

Through the Telegram group on Nov 6, 2025, Turah took instructions from unknown persons and travelled to Singapore.

He took a taxi to Mustafa Centre and was told to meet an “auntie” at one of its entrances. He was also given a picture of her.

At around 10pm, Turah saw the victim pushing a trolley containing the five bags near the store. He approached her and said: “Bala Krishnan BK 1505”.

She passed the bags containing the gold bars to him, and he entered a pre-booked Toyota Vellfire at a nearby carpark.

The vehicle took him to Malaysia, where he handed the valuables to its driver.

In a statement in November 2025, the police said the victim later sensed that something was amiss and alerted the authorities.

Turah was arrested on Nov 8, that year, when he tried to re-enter Singapore, and has been in remand since.

On July 21, the DPP asked the court to sentence him to up to three years and eight months’ jail.

He said Turah was working for a criminal syndicate which arranged transport for him at every turn and instructed him effectively remotely.

Defence lawyer S Gogula Kannan said Turah regretted his actions and was a pawn in the grand scheme of things.

The number of scam cases fell from more than 50,000 in 2024, to 37,308 in 2025, the police said in their annual scam statistics in February.

The amount lost to scammers also fell, from $1.1 billion in 2024, to $913.1 million in 2025.