5 individuals from the ages of 22 and 40 were charged in court yesterday (Jan 20) for alleged involvement in the illegal registration of prepaid SIM cards.
Among the five-person, a 40-year-old man who runs a handphone shop is also charged for operating a remittance company without a valid remittance licence and offering a cross-border money transfer service.
The Police investigation revealed that the 5 handphone shops misused the personal information of others to register over 460 SIM cards. One of the retailers even used a photocopied passport to complete the registrations.
Registering sim cards typically require the use of a terminal device that scans the identification card/passport.
It is believed that the identifications documents were duplicated when the customers hand over the documents to register for a sim card.
Penalties
The five men and one woman are facing charges for illegally acquiring personal information in violation of Section 416A of the Penal Code, as well as unauthorized alteration of computer materials in violation of Section 5(1) of the Computer Misuse Act.
The crime of illegally acquiring personal information is punished by imprisonment for a term of up to three years, a fine of up to $10,000, or both. Unauthorized alteration of computer materials is punishable by a fine of up to $10,000, imprisonment for up to three years, or both.
The 40-year-old could be jailed for up to 3 years and a maximum fine of $125,000 for providing payment services without a license. In addition, for providing remittance without a license can result in 2 years jail and up to $100,000 fine.