IN 2005, Rahmad Ibrahim needed a job. He found one online, which required him only to act on e-mail instructions from his employer - collect funds sent from Australia, Britain, Spain and Germany at remittance agencies, and then forward these to Latvia via international wire transfers.

Rahmad stood to earn a commission of 3 per cent with each transaction.

The past two days, however, the 41-year-old has found himself in court, accused of having been a money mule for overseas crime syndicates, the first Singaporean in this situation.

Now a property agent, Rahmad has had to answer questions about his failure to disclose to the authorities that the ?1,594 (S$4,900) he wired to Latvia on Dec 22, 2005 were proceeds from criminal activity.

His defence: he was unaware of the criminal activities allegedly run by Financial Investment Advisory Services (FIAS), his employer.

On its website, FIAS claims to be a department jointly operated by the International Financial Corporation and the World Bank, but investigations by the Commercial Affairs Department here and the Australian police have revealed the website www.fias.sg to be run by an unknown criminal syndicate.

Its members have obtained the bank account IDs and passwords of unsuspecting victims through 'phishing', and then accessed these accounts to steal funds.

'Phishing' involves sending an e-mail to a user, falsely claiming to be a legitimate enterprise, to make the user reveal private information such as user IDs and passwords. Such e-mail messages typically direct the user to a website that looks genuine, and asks for 'updates' of personal information.

The money stolen by the syndicate is then moved through Singapore, a reputed financial hub to 'launder' it - that is, to give it a measure of credibility.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Quek Hui Ling argued that Rahmad should have been suspicious about getting the job after having provided only an e-mail address and personal particulars. FIAS neither ran checks nor interviewed him.

DPP Quek added that he should also have realised the commissions he was earning were generous, and that the money could have been moved straight to Latvia instead of through Singapore, which would have run up extra costs.

Rahmad, who obtained his A-levels in 1988 with passes in Economics, Management of Business, Malay and General Paper, had failed to make another transfer before the Dec 22 one; a third one did not make it here from Australia.

His lawyer Ravinderpal Singh said Rahmad became uncomfortable when FIAS asked him to hide the commercial nature of the money transfers on the evening of Dec 22, and to say they were for air fare or educational expenses. His client had no reason to believe the money had shady origins.

District Judge Jill Tan asked for submissions to be tendered to court on July 17. If convicted, Rahmad can be fined up to $10,000.

khush@sph.com.sg