On 25 March 2022, Wang Wai Keong @ Wong Wai Keong (“Wang”), a 68-year-old male Singaporean, pleaded guilty and was convicted of one count of providing a cross-border money transfer service without a licence, which is an offence punishable under Section 5(3)(a) of the Payment Services Act 2019. On 3 June 2022, he was sentenced to six weeks’ imprisonment.
On 9 April 2020, a victim of a China Officials Impersonation Scam reported that she was cheated into believing that she was being investigated for suspected money laundering by individuals claiming to be Chinese police officers (“China Officials”). As instructed by the scammers, the victim handed over at least S$1 million in cash, to two female ‘agents’ at various locations around Singapore on different occasions, as part of the purported investigations. Under the scammers’ instructions, the female ‘agents’ then passed the cash collected to other persons in various parts of Singapore for the funds to be sent to the purported China Officials.
Police investigation revealed that Wang had, on three occasions between 31 March 2020 and 8 April 2020, in his personal capacity, acted on the directions of an unidentified foreign person and received a total of S$209,370 for onward remittance to Hong Kong. The money received was from one of the female ‘agents’, being criminal proceeds of the China Officials Impersonation Scam. The money was subsequently transferred out of Singapore through Wang’s contact based overseas. On 16 April 2020, Wang had made full restitution of the money received (i.e., S$209,370).
Wang had performed the unlicensed transactions despite working as a Business Development Manager for a licensed money changer and remittance service provider. He was fully aware of the regulatory requirements and the mandatory customer due diligence measures for such transactions. However, Wang failed to conduct the due diligence measures for these unlicensed transactions. He was reckless as to the risk that he could be dealing with criminal proceeds by assisting the unidentified foreign person to remit money overseas, beyond the reach of the Singapore authorities.
Wang had, for at least two years prior to his arrest on 15 April 2020, provided unlicensed remittance services in his personal capacity using the “Hawala method”, an informal method of transference of monies, based on trust in the agents located in the forwarding and receiving countries. Further, Wang was previously issued with a written advisory from the Singapore Police Force, advising him to refrain from receiving or dealing with funds from unknown and/or dubious sources. Despite this, he continued to provide unlicensed remittance services without establishing and verifying the identities of the clients and intended recipients.
For providing cross-border money transfer services without a licence, Wang could have been fined up to $125,000, be jailed up to three years, or both.
The Police would like to advise members of the public to engage banks or licensed cross-border money transfer agents instead of unlicensed payment service entities to avoid the risk of losing their money. The Police will not hesitate to take action against any individual or entity involved in conducting unlicensed cross-border money transfer services, as they pose the risk of being conduits for money laundering and terrorist financing.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
03 June 2022 @ 4:20 PM