"Karim": Fake SEA Games Hirer [Certified Dishonest]

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Sporting event job scam leaves at least 50 victims S$35 poorer
Valerie Koh, [email protected]
Published: 4:16 AM, May 19, 2015

SINGAPORE — The return of the SEA Games to Singapore for the first time in two decades is a big occasion for many Singaporeans. But for one group of people, the hope of being involved has gotten them embroiled in an alleged scam.

They were recruited as towel and laundry attendants, and asked to pay a fee of S$35 for registration and a set of uniforms. But once the money was transferred, the recruiter, whom they know as Karim, vanished.

A police report has been lodged and the authorities said investigations are being conducted.

So far, about 50 individuals have come forward to say they were victims of the alleged scam.

Karim, said to be in his late 20s or early 30s, had approached several acquaintances and got them to rope in their family members and friends. He had promised to pay them S$900 for one week’s work. Training was to be conducted over three days at the New Bridge Road office of recruitment agency TCC Manpower, with the first training session scheduled from 9am to 5pm yesterday.

At about 9.15am, those who had signed up for the job had all gathered outside the office, but Karim was nowhere to be seen.

“He said he was on the way, but later, at 10am, he turned off his phone,” said Ms Nelly Riana, 28. Her younger brother, who knew Karim from previous contract jobs, had introduced the job to her.

“He told us to be on time; otherwise, our salary would be deducted,” she added.

Ms Riana, a barista, said Karim had asked them what their favourite sport was, so he could assign them to it.

TCC staff members told the crowd it had no employee named Karim and that the agency did not recruit any people for the Games.

“We ran his name and phone number through our database, but there’s no such person,” Mr Jumat Tawil, a recruitment and resource manager at TCC Manpower, told TODAY. “All our recruitment agents are licensed, and they carry photo identification.”

He added that this was the first time his company had received complaints of impersonation of its staff.

Responding to queries from TODAY, a Singapore SEA Games Organising Committee (SINGSOC) spokesman said it was not recruiting any workers for laundry services or towel duties. “There are no such positions available,” he said.

Source: http://m.todayonline.com/singapore/sporting-event-job-scam-leaves-least-50-victims-s35-poorer

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Man arrested for 'SEA Games' employment scam
Published on May 22, 2015 3:41 PM
By Chew Hui Min

SINGAPORE - A 38-year-old man has been arrested for his suspected involvement in a "SEA Games" employment scam that has duped more than 50 people.

The victims had responded to advertisements posted on Facebook by the suspect, purporting to offer jobs for the upcoming 28th South-east Asia (SEA) Games.

The regional sporting event will held in Singapore from June 5 to 16.

The suspect interviewed victims for the jobs at various locations in Singapore. Following the interview, the suspect collected $35 for training fees and uniforms from each victim.

He then asked each of them to attend a compulsory three-day training at a company in New Bridge Road.

Police received a report on May 18 that more than 50 individuals turned up at the company for training, only to discover that they had fallen prey to an employment scam.

Police officers arrested the suspect at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10 on Thursday night. They also seized a notebook, mobile phones and an iPad.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect is also believed to be involved in two other theft cases committed in Marine Parade and Serangoon Central, police said.

The suspect will be charged on Saturday (May 23) for the offence of cheating, which carries a maximum jail term of 10 years, and a fine.

In their statement, the police reminded the public to be wary of such scams. If in doubt, members of the public "should seek verification with related authorities, recruitment agencies or main event organisers", police said.

Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/courts-crime/story/man-arrested-sea-games-employment-scam-20150522

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9 years’ preventive detention for SEA Games job scam
Karim Mat Amin, 38, told job applicants that he would pay them S$900 to take on a one-week job at the SEA Games, but instead scammed them of S$35 each.
By Vanessa Paige Chelvan     Posted 02 Oct 2015 14:52

SINGAPORE: For cheating more than 45 people into believing he had jobs for them at this year’s South-East Asian (SEA) Games, a 38-year-old man has been sentenced to nine years’ preventive detention.

Karim Mat Amin pleaded guilty to 15 charges of cheating and one count of theft. Another 32 charges were taken into consideration in sentencing.

MODUS OPERANDI

Karim, who has spent most of his adult life behind bars, had just been released after serving a 12-year term of corrective training when he falsely advertised that he was looking for people to take on part-time jobs at the SEA Games in June this year.

Presenting himself as a human resource manager from recruitment firm Just Recruit, Karim told interested applicants that they would be paid S$900 to work 12 hours a day between Jun 5 and 11. He would conduct interviews dressed in a long-sleeved shirt and business pants, and record applicants’ particulars in a notebook.

After the interview, Karim would inform them that they had gotten the job. However, he would tell them that they had to pay a fee of S$35 for a three-day training course, uniforms and a commemorative EZ-link card.

If applicants did not pay him in cash on the day of the interview, Karim would send them SMS reminders, telling them that if they did not pay the fee, their name would be removed from the list of successful applicants.

On May 17, Karim created a WhatsApp chat group for about 50 applicants and informed them not to be late for the first day of training that would take place the next day. He told the group to meet the next morning at the office of the recruitment firm, and to look for a mascot and ushers dressed in SEA Games uniforms at the office.

After three hours of waiting for Karim to show up, the victims called the police. Calls to Just Recruit revealed that Karim was not an employee.

Karim said he had set the fee at S$35 as it was an affordable amount that more people would be willing to pay, thus allowing him to deceive a larger number of victims into handing over the money.

In this way, he cheated at least S$1,600 from no fewer than 45 victims.

On May 18, Karim also broke in to his former workplace, the Mad Jack Restaurant at Parkway Parade, and stole an iPad and S$150 in cash from the tip jar.

HIGH RISK OF RE-OFFENDING

In court on Friday, Karim’s lawyer Revi Shanker sought an imprisonment term of just one year, urging the judge to consider the circumstances under which his client had committed the offences. Karim had been under financial pressure and needed to support his family, Mr Revi said.

However, District Judge Christopher Goh said that a jail term of one year would be “clearly manifestly inadequate” in light of Karim’s offences and his history of similar offences. He also noted that the 12 years Karim had spent in corrective training, an intensive program of rehabilitation, had not worked.

“If 12 years didn’t do anything, why would one year do anything?” Judge Goh asked.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Chong Yonghui told the court that the risk of Karim re-offending is high – between 45 and 60 per cent in the next two years, according to a corrective training report.

Karim was also not remorseful as he keeps “trying to shift the blame away from himself”, and claimed that the cheating was committed out of mischief, when this is clearly not so, Mr Chong said.

Preventive detention, which is reserved for those with a history of offending, is necessary to protect the public, he added.

Agreeing, Judge Goh said: “This is clearly not a spur-of-the-moment offence … (it was) planned to ensure the least possible chance of detection.”

Karim said in mitigation that he committed the offences under financial pressure and because of a “culture shock” when he was released from corrective training after 12 years.

“I went to various organisations for (financial) assistance … I tried to seek help”, Karim told the court. “I repent,” he added.

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/9-years-preventive/2165226.html