Tradenation luxury goods scam: Second man charged with helping fugitive flee Singapore

SINGAPORE: A second man was charged on Saturday (Jul 30) with helping a suspect allegedly involved in the Tradenation luxury goods scam to flee Singapore.

Malaysian Mohamad Fazli Abdul Rahman, 38, faces one charge of conspiring with lorry driver Mohamed Alias to arrange for Singaporean Pi Jiapeng to hide in the container compartment of a Malaysian registered lorry and to leave Singapore without presenting his passport.

Pi was arrested last month for alleged cheating offences. Together with his wife, Thai national Siriwipa Pansuk, they fled the country on Jul 4, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said previously.

Lorry driver Mohamed Alias, 40, was charged earlier this month with helping Pi and Pansuk to flee Singapore.

The Singapore Police Force said on Friday that Mohamad Fazli was arrested in Malaysia “with strong cooperation and assistance from the Royal Malaysia Police”. 

If convicted, Mohamad Fazli could be jailed for between six months and two years, and fined up to S$6,000. 

LUXURY GOODS SCAM

Arrest warrants and Interpol red notices have been issued against Pi and Pansuk, after at least 180 police reports involving two companies, Tradenation and Tradeluxury, were made since June.

The complainants said they made advance payments for luxury watches or bags, but they did not receive the products.

While some media reports said the total value of the undelivered luxury watches and bags was S$32 million, CNA understands that victims who made police reports have not received goods worth at least S$20 million as of Jul 17.