A 23-YEAR-OLD man who threatened to release nude photographs of
a woman onto the Internet unless she paid him $5,000, has been
arrested for extortion said police on Thursday.
The young woman contacted police on Tuesday, telling them she
had received a number of text messages from an unknown mobile phone
number demanding $5,000, or photographs of her naked would be
posted online. She had also discovered that her image had been used
to advertise sex on a website.
After investigations, officers from the Central Police Division
discovered that the mobile phone number belonged to a bystander,
but managed to establish the identity of a possible suspect.
On Wednesday afternoon, a 23-year-old man was arrested at Bras
Basah Road in conection with the case. He was caught with a mobile
phone still carrying the threatening messages; a notebook computer
and a thumb drive were also seized.
Further investigations discovered that the man had also
threatened another woman in a similar way.
Police said that the man will be charged on Friday with 'Putting
A Person In Fear In Order To Commit Extortion'. If found guilty,
the suspect could be jailed for up to five years and caned. He has
been remanded into custody pending further investigations.