Man arrested for illegally collecting 257 face masks from vending machines

Man arrested for illegally collecting 257 face masks from vending machines.

Police said that five people would be charged on Monday (Aug 16) for allegedly using illegally obtained personal information to collect face masks from the Temasek Foundation vending machines during mask distribution exercises.

It includes a 59-year-old man suspected of trading 257 face masks from these machines using fraudulent means.

In a press release Sunday, police said three men and two women, ages 34 to 59. They both were believed to be involved in separate incidents of using fraudulently obtained NRIC and FIN numbers to redeem the masks.

The 59-year-old was suspected of having “dishonestly induced the Temasek Foundation to deliver 13 packages of masks through the mask vending machines” by falsely representing that he was authorized to collect the masks on behalf of people whose NRIC numbers he had obtained in his course of work.

Police said that the man was found with 244 other face masks believed to have been fraudulently obtained through his investigations.

The man will be charged with one count of cheating and one count of fraudulent possession of the property, police added.

In another case, a 34-year-old man allegedly went to various locations to redeem 14 face masks from vending machines using other people’s NRIC numbers, which were accidentally sent to him or obtained in the course of his work.

The man will be charged with one count of cheating, police said.

A 58-year-old man also allegedly redeemed 11 face masks from vending machines using his customers’ NRIC numbers without his authorization for his use. He will be charged with two counts of cheating.

A 47-year-old woman reportedly redeemed eight face masks using the FIN and NRIC numbers that she had obtained during her work. She had also withheld the numbers without the consent of the owners.

Police added that she would be charged with cheating and one count of illegally obtaining personal information.

A 43-year-old woman also allegedly traded in 10 face masks using NRIC numbers of her clients without her authorization. She will be charged with two counts of cheating and two counts of illegally obtaining personal information.