Indian national Bhambri Kunal jailed in Singapore for 'illegally withdrawing fraud money'

A 26-year-old Indian citizen, Bhambri Kunal was sentenced to nine weeks in prison in Singapore after he pleaded guilty to three charges of dealing with the benefits of criminal activity involving over SGD 26,000 that was connected to three fraud victims in the United States. Kunal, who initially arrived in Singapore in 2018 to study, had taken money out of Singaporean bank accounts in return for at least SGD 100; these funds were eventually linked to three fraud victims in the US, PTI reported.  

It is pertinent to mention that Bhambri received his sentence on Wednesday, according to The Straits Times. 

Seah Ee Wei, the deputy public prosecutor, noted that Singapore's Commercial Affairs Department obtained information about fraudulent transactions involving three victims in the US during the period between February and March 2021.  

The victims of Bhambri Kunal

According to the PTI report, on February 10, 2021, Kay Kovaleski, the first victim, reported the incident to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of her nation. She was tricked into sending USD 29,500 (SGD 39,000, according to court records) to a Singaporean bank account operated by a person by the name of Rahul Kumar. Furthermore, the second victim, Kimberly Lynn Mole, reported to Santa Maria police in California 13 days later of being tricked into transferring USD 32,620 to Brar Vishavjeet's Singapore bank account. 

On March 19, 2021, Thomas Sabatino, the third victim, reported the incident to the Singapore authorities, claiming that he had been tricked into sending USD 46,000 to a Singapore bank account connected to one Lakhwinder Singh.  

According to defence attorney S S Dhillon, Bhambri had made friends with three Indian citizens named Rahul, Simar, and Nayak Isha in the meantime. The attorney claimed that around the beginning of 2021, Rahul and Simar sought Bhambri to assist them in making ATM withdrawals from local bank accounts. Bhambri consented to assist them. He took out over SGD 26,000 from bank accounts that didn't belong to him between February 9 and March 3, 2021. 

Bhambri then gave Rahul, Simar, and Nayak Isha the money. The court did not reveal their whereabouts. It was eventually determined that the funds were a portion of the illegal earnings made from the American scam victims. 

Indian jailed in Singapore

Deputy Public Prosecutor Seah Ee Wei told the court, “(Bhambri)… did not check the names on the accounts before withdrawing the money. He admitted to knowing that it was wrong and illegal to withdraw money from other people’s bank accounts but continued to do so.”  

On April 27, 2021, according to Dhillon's statement on Wednesday, his client was summoned for an inquiry. 

The defence attorney was quoted by The Straits Times as claiming that Bhambri became acquainted with the wrong people and fell prey to scammers who took advantage of his mild-mannered and modest attitude. Dhillon said that his client was sorry for what he did and that the crimes were not from his own mind. 

Notably, the deputy public prosecutor stated that Kovaleski transferred the funds under the false pretence that she had to repay incorrect payments that had been delivered to her in exchange for a computer installation service. “Sabatino surrendered control of his computer after being induced by a false representation that he had to return excess refunds sent to him for a tech support contract. The perpetrator then used the control to make the unauthorised wire transfer,” the prosecutor added.  

(Image: PTI/ Representative)