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Catching a Scamster: A 40-year-old Barnacle in Singapore's Pool
Singapore, June 4 - In the murky depths of the Lion City, a 40-year-old India-born con artist named Arivalagan Muthusamy has been slapped with a 2.5-year jail term. The sentence handed down in 2025 came after he duped 61 unsuspecting victims, draining them of over S$310,000 (a cool RM1.02 million) through a series of cunning contractor scams.
Still reeking from a stint behind bars in late 2022, Arivalagan decide to take an uninvited dip once more while serving a remission order that required him to shake off the scheming ways until March 28, 2023. That's according to a juicy piece in The Straits Times dated today.
The repeat conman pleaded guilty to 21 counts of fraud, with over 40 other charges either thrown overboard or tethered to the anchor when it was deemed necessary. Besides that, he bagged an extra 88-day term for testing the bounds of his remission order.
From late 2022 until mid-2023, Arivalagan many times donned the mask of a building management representative and ensnared contractors into transferring money under false pretenses. These faux deposits and permits, proudly bearing labels like "flooring" and "air-conditioning work," eventually led to a sizable hole in the contractors' pockets.
As a new tactic, this crafty crab first lured the unwary contractors towards a fictitious "contact person," before impersonating that person with convincing chutzpah, demanding payments, and providing bank account details under his command.
To help execute his illicit business, Arivalagan enlisted the help of two pals: Thomas Sng Jian Wen and Ahammed Md Riaz. These companions were strategically put in place to procure bank accounts used to gather the stolen booty.
The court, represented by Deputy Public Prosecutor Maximilian Chew, described the crimes as "planned and premeditated." Evidence pointed to Arivalagan's deceitful endeavors involving more than one accomplice and employing money mule accounts to commit the swindles.
Among the victims, two companies each lost $10,000 after falling for the bait of a "permit-to-work" scam at Capital Tower.
Arivalagan, who already has previous convictions for forgery in 2013 and for being part of a 2021 syndicate linked to gold and cryptocurrency scams, has yet to compensate any of the victims.
For each fraud count, an offender faces a maximum sentence of 10 years behind bars, alongside a hefty fine.
[1] Arivalagan Muthusamy, Former Building Management Scammer, Sentenced: All the Key DetailsAbout the Earnest Con Artist and the Multiple Scams He Pulled
[2] Notorious Fraudster Arivalagan Muthusamy Sentenced to Two and a Half Years in Prison for Contractor Scams
[3] Singapore's Serial Fraudster Arivalagan Muthusamy: How He Swindled More Than 60 Victims Out of Over S$300,000
[4] The Indian-Origin Con Artist: Arivalagan Muthusamy's движок in the Land of Lions and His Brazen Contractor Scams
- The latest news on policy-and-legislation reveals that Arivalagan Muthusamy, a notorious fraudster in Singapore, has been sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for his involvement in contractor scams.
- While digesting the general-news, readers may find an article about Arivalagan Muthusamy, a 40-year-old Indian-born con artist convicted of numerous fraud related to his contractor scams, leading to loss of over S$300,000 for unsuspecting victims. The article happens to cover the crime-and-justice aspect of the Lion City recently.
