Four men accused of being behind a Telegram group chat that was allegedly circulating pornographic material — including nudes of unsuspecting Singaporean women — were arrested on Monday.
Two of the as-yet unidentified men, 26 and 37, were administrators of the SG Nasi Lemak group chat, which first came to light earlier this month. The other two arrested, a 17-year-old and a 19-year-old, were identified as distributors of obscene materials, police said today.
The group chat, which had more than 40,000 members before going dark, went viral two weeks ago after several Singaporeans, including celebrities Sezairi Sezali and Dee Kosh, condemned it on Twitter. At least one of the alleged victims, who said their images had popped up in the group, said they had gone to the police.
Police said several reports had been received as early as March 15.
The identities of the four suspects were established yesterday, leading to their arrests at various locations across the city-state, and the seizure of more than 10 electronic devices including a central processing unit, a laptop, a hard disk and a number of mobile phones.
The four men will be charged in court today with conspiring to commit the distribution of obscene materials. The Straits Times reported that members who wanted to join the group chat had to pay S$30 (US$22) as an “entry fee.”
If found guilty, the four men could be jailed for up to three months, fined, or both.
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Telegram group with 40k+ members outed for sharing nudes of Singaporean women
