Over $539,000 in suspected scam proceeds was seized and 176 individuals investigated following a 12-day island-wide enforcement operation by the police and local banks, during which over 176 bank accounts were also frozen.The operation took place between Nov 17 and 28, and was carried out by officers from the Anti-Scam Command (ASCom) and the police land divisions' Scam Strike Teams, said the Singapore Police Force in a news release on Friday (Dec 12). The operation was conducted against persons for their alleged involvement in government official impersonation scams, investment scams, and job scams, which were among the top five scams types for the first half of 2025.Through working closely with major industry stakeholders, such as social media companies, messaging platforms and telecommunication companies, the police disrupted over 880 online enablers and terminated more than 1,070 phone lines that were linked to scams.176 persons under investigationOf the 176 individuals under investigation, 128 are men and 48 women, aged between 16 and 85.

Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh and Mediacorp have issued separate apologies to the court over comments made by Singh on an episode of CNA's The Assembly which aired on Nov 5.In a Facebook post on Saturday (Dec 13), Singh, who is also chief of the Workers' Party, said that he accepts his statements may be construed to be in contempt of court.Apart from his comments during the interview, Singh had also posted about the interview on Facebook on Nov 6 and 8.«I accept that my statements may be construed to be in contempt of court, including to impugn the integrity, propriety or impartiality of the court,» said Singh in his post.  «Given that, I wholly and unreservedly apologise to the court and will avoid making comments to the same or similar effect in future.»

Two female car passengers were taken to the hospital after an accident involving two cars along a road near Yishun Dam on Friday (Dec 12) night.The accident happened at about 9.30pm along Seletar West Link towards Seletar Road North Link, before the left turn into Seletar Club Road.The collision was captured on dashcam footage and shared with AsiaOne.In the video, an orange car is seen stopped between two Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) ambulances. In front of the first ambulance, a dark-coloured car is seen overturned.Three motorcycles, which did not appear to be damaged, were also stopped near the overturned car.At least three persons are seen trying to reach the occupants in the overturned car.An eyewitness in her 30s, surnamed Ng, told AsiaOne that she was driving home when she witnessed the accident.According to Ng, the accident led to congestion stretching back to the Central Expressway (CTE) before the exit to Seletar West Link.Ng also witnessed parts of the rescue. «I saw the paramedic working on a woman. Nearby, a man sat on the road divider. He seemed to be in shock,» Ng said.

Seven Bangladeshi men aged between 20 and 40 years old were arrested for alleged drug-related offences in separate enforcement operations conducted at migrant worker dormitories in Choa Chu Kang, Jurong and Seletar.In a statement on Saturday (Dec 13), the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) said that the operations were conducted from Dec 8 to 11.CNB said that four men aged between 20 and 40 arrested on Dec 11 were from a dormitory in Choa Chu Kang.A small amount of «Ice» and various drug paraphernalia were found and seized from a 24-year-old suspect.During another operation at a dormitory in Seletar on Dec 9, a 23-year-old man was arrested for suspected drug consumption offences.A 29-year-old man who was found with a small amount of «Ice» and various drug paraphernalia was arrested for suspected drug trafficking.The last suspect, a 25-year-old man, was arrested at a dormitory in Jurong West on Dec 8 for suspected drug consumption.

The Singapore government will contribute US$100,000 (S$129,000) as seed money to support the Singapore Red Cross' (SRC) public fundraising efforts for the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka caused by Cyclone Ditwah. The contribution will supplement the SRC's pledge of S$50,000 to supplement the immediate needs of affected communities in Sri Lanka, said Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday (Dec 12).According to the Disaster Management Centre, Sri Lanka's death toll from Cyclone Ditwah climbed to 639 on Dec 11. Most of the fatalities were attributed to landslides triggered by torrential rainfall exceeding 300mm in the first 24 hours as the cyclone lashed Sri Lanka on Nov 28, leaving its eastern and central regions most severely affected. At least a million people have since been affected by the ensuing heavy rains and floods that swept through large parts of the country, forcing some 200,000 people into 1,275 shelters, said the centre in an earlier statement. Sri Lankan authorities have estimated that they would need around US$7 billion to rebuild homes, industries and roads. 

In the first 10 months of this year, at least $615,000 were lost to concert ticket scams, the police said on Friday (Dec 12).The advisory was issued ahead of upcoming concerts such as K-pop groups Super Junior's Super Show 10 in January and Seventeen's world tour New_ in March.Police said there were at least 722 concert ticket scam cases reported from January to October 2025.In those cases, victims would come across the resale of concert tickets on online platforms such as Carousell, Facebook, Telegram, X and Xiaohongshu.Scammers would then provide screenshots or videos of fake tickets or receipts to convince victims that the tickets were authentic.They would also claim that ticket sales were time-sensitive or limited in quantity, and promise to deliver the tickets after payment was made.When the victims told the scammers that they did not receive their tickets, the scammers would ask for additional payment, claiming that the initial payment was not received.

The police will charge a 32-year-old man on Saturday (Dec 13) over his suspected involvement in a knife incident along Boon Lay Drive.The incident, which took place at Block 188 Boon Lay Drive, happened at about 6.55pm on Dec 6.It resulted in a 58-year-old man reportedly suffering injuries to his back, forearm and forehead.The alleged assailant was then seen fleeing towards Block 238 Boon Lay Drive.In response to AsiaOne's queries, the police said in an updated statement on Friday Dec 12 that they have arrested the man.He will be charged for the offence of voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons.If found guilty of the offence, the man may be jailed for up to seven years, fined, caned, or receive a combination of these punishments.«The police have zero tolerance towards such acts of violence in the community and will not hesitate to take firm action against those who blatantly disregard the law,» they said. [[nid:726398]]editor@asiaone.com

BANGKOK – Singapore sprint queen Shanti Pereira’s bid for a historic double-double at the SEA Games got off to a speedy start on Dec 11, when the 29-year-old retained her women’s 100m gold in Bangkok.Competing at the Suphachalasai National Stadium, she clocked 11.36sec to beat home favourite Khanonta Jirapat (11.54) and Ha Thi Thu (11.58) of Vietnam, who finished second and third, respectively.While Pereira said she did not feel “too good” the day before in practice, her coach Luis Cunha’s advice that “you just need to come in first” worked a treat.She said: “I didn’t think about the time too much. Of course, I wanted to do a good one, but it was really just about showing up and trying to attain my goal of defending the title no matter the timing.“I’m happy to go to coach and give him a great hug and get ready for the 200m.”At the 2023 edition in Cambodia, Pereira made history by becoming the first Singaporean to win the 100m and 200m golds.

Two men, aged 24 and 47, will be charged in court on Friday (Dec 12) for their alleged involvement in a government official impersonation scam (GOIS).In a statement on Dec 11, the police said they received a report involving the impersonation of an officer from the Singapore Police Force.Modus operandi: Your personal information was misusedThe female victim who filed the report was allegedly told over a video call, by a man dressed in police uniform, that she had purchased an insurance policy and that her personal information was misused.The woman was also instructed to surrender her money and valuables for the purpose of investigations. Convinced that she was under investigation, the woman handed over cash amounting to more than $7,000, and subsequently, gold worth over $53,000. The police said that the cash and gold were handed to a different unknown person on each occasion. They established the identities of the two individuals, a 47-year-old Malaysian man and a 24-year-old Singaporean man, through follow-up investigations and ground enquiries.