Singapore crypto industry worker in home armed robbery case: mastermind sentenced to 12 years and 11 months in prison and 24 strokes of the cane

September 16 — According to Lianhe Zaobao, seven Malaysian robbers targeted players attending a poker game, stormed into a luxury private residence in the Bukit Timah area late at night, and fled Singapore swiftly in two groups after robbing more than S$4.9 million at gunpoint. Six of them pleaded guilty in the High Court on Monday (September 14), and two masterminds were sentenced to 12 years and 11 months in prison, 24 strokes of the cane, and a fine of S$4,000.

The court heard that masterminds Wu Wentong (30) and Huang Zhishan (35) learned through a friend who had previously attended the games that poker sessions were often held at night in the bungalow where the incident occurred. After casing the location, the two discovered that the bungalow’s main gate would not be locked during the games. Wu Wentong and Huang Zhishan then recruited five other accomplices and came to Singapore specifically to commit the crime.

The armed robbery took place at about 2 a.m. on April 18, 2024, at a residence in the Good Class Bungalow area of Albrook Park, when 11 men and women were playing poker in the living room. According to the facts, around March 2024, Wu Wentong and Huang Zhishan, facing financial problems, decided to rob the poker players at the bungalow. Knowing that the two of them alone could not carry out a heist of that scale, they approached Hamidon, who ran a private security company and provided debt collection services, to use his connections to gather men, promising a reward of RM1.5 million (about S$470,000).

After succeeding, the group left in a multi-purpose vehicle and then split into two groups, leaving Singapore by vehicle via Tuas and Woodlands checkpoints respectively. At the same time, several players in the private residence managed to break free from their restraints and called the police to report the robbery. With the assistance of the Royal Malaysia Police, the six defendants were arrested one after another between late April and November 2024 and extradited to Singapore to face charges. Police have so far seized virtual currency worth S$1.69 million, while the remaining money and property remain missing.