A 53-year-old woman will be charged in court on 18 March 2021 for suspected money laundering in relation to an Internet love scam.
In June 2020, the Police received a report from a 71-year-old victim of an Internet love scam. The victim had befriended a woman online and developed a relationship with her. The woman supposedly claimed that she had sent him a parcel from overseas but it had been detained by the Customs Department in Malaysia. She then allegedly asked him to make ‘Anti-Terrorism’ fee payments to claim the parcel, which was said to have contained a large sum of money. As the victim trusted her, he acceded to her request and made payment to a bank account belonging to the woman. The victim transferred a total of more than S$21,000 in a span of two days in June 2020.
Through investigations, officers from the Commercial Affairs Department established the identity of the woman and arrested her on 17 March 2021. Preliminary investigations revealed that the woman allegedly assisted a foreign crime syndicate to receive and transfer the criminal proceeds. She will be charged in court on 18 March 2021 with one count of assisting another party to retain his criminal benefits under Section 44(1)(a) of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Offences (Confiscation of Benefits) Act.
Anyone found guilty of assisting another to facilitate the retention of benefits from criminal conduct under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Offences (Confiscation of Benefits) Act, faces up to 10 years' imprisonment, a fine up to S$500,000, or both.
The Police would like to warn members of the public that they should not give their personal bank account details to any person or receive funds from unknown sources in their bank accounts. Should they do so, they may be liable for assisting others to launder monies from criminal activities. Their bank accounts will be frozen, and they will be subjected to criminal investigation and possible prosecution in court.
Internet love scams remain a serious crime concern. To avoid falling prey to these scams, members of the public should be careful when befriending strangers online. They should also be wary when being asked to receive and/or transfer money to people whom they do not know. For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam Hotline at 1800-722-6688. Anyone with information on such scams may call the Police hotline at 1800-255 0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
17 March 2021 @ 7:50 PM