Charge withdrawn for man accused of helping trio allegedly linked to organised criminal group
SINGAPORE – A man accused of helping three Chinese nationals, who were allegedly linked to a global syndicate that conducted malicious cyber activities, has walked free after his charge was withdrawn on May 21.
District Judge Ng Cheng Thiam granted Mr Goh Shi Yong, 35, a discharge amounting to an acquittal following a pre-trial conference that day.
This means the Singaporean cannot be charged again over the same offence.
Without revealing details, the Attorney-General's Chambers told The Straits Times on May 26: 'The charge pertained to Goh's alleged assistance to obtain residential internet access subscriptions for other accused persons.
'After careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the matter, Goh's charge was withdrawn, and the prosecution applied for (the discharge). This was granted by the court on May 21.'
Mr Goh had been accused of helping Liu Yuqi, 33, Huang Qin Zheng, 36, Yan Peijian, 39, subscribe to two Singtel broadband plans for a house in Mount Sinai Avenue near Holland Road where the trio lived.
These four men were part of a group of six people who were charged in court in September 2024.
Mr Goh is the sole Singaporean while the other five are Chinese nationals, whose cases are still pending.
Liu, Huang and Yan are accused of multiple offences including being part of a locally linked organised criminal group between September 2022 and September 2024.
The other two men are Sun Jiao, 43, and Zhang Qingqiao, 38.
Sun now faces more than 20 charges including multiple counts of misusing a computer system, while Zhang is accused of offences including illegally obtaining the personal information of others without their consent.
The six men were arrested after more than 150 officers from the Singapore Police Force's Criminal Investigation and Police Intelligence departments and Special Operations Command as well as the Internal Security Department (ISD) conducted simultaneous raids at multiple locations islandwide on Sept 9, 2024.
Sun was caught at his home in a Bidadari Park Drive condominium and was 'found in possession of a laptop that contained credentials to access internet servers used by known hacker groups', the police and ISD said in an earlier joint statement.
'Five laptops, six mobile phones, cash of more than $24,000 and cryptocurrency worth approximately US$850,000 (S$1.1 million) were seized from him,' the authorities added.
Liu, Huang and Yan were caught at their Mount Sinai Avenue home, where they allegedly had multiple incriminating items in their possession, including a laptop that was said to contain various computer hacking tools.
Officers arrested Zhang at his home in a Cairnhill Road condominium. A laptop, nine mobile phones and $465,000 in cash were seized from him, said the police and ISD in September 2024.
Mr Goh was caught at a Housing Board flat in Hougang.
For being part of an organised criminal group, an offender can be jailed for up to five years and fined up to $100,000.
Shaffiq Alkhatib is The Straits Times' court correspondent, covering mainly criminal cases heard at the State Courts.
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