A 32-year-old man will be charged in court on 27 January 2023 for his suspected involvement in money-laundering activities under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Offences (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992 (“CDSA”).
On 4 May 2022, the Police received a report from a victim where a sum of $15,000 and $11,000 were transferred into two separate bank accounts. Investigations revealed that between 21 and 28 April 2022, the 32-year-old man had allegedly agreed to receive a total sum of $26,000 using two bank accounts which belonged to him and a colleague, who was unaware of the 32-year-old man’s money-laundering activities. The man claimed that the money was loan repayments from a friend in Malaysia and had remitted the money to a bank in Bangladesh. As the man was unable to give a satisfactory explanation for using his colleague’s bank account, or why his friend could not transfer the money directly to the bank in Bangladesh, he is liable for an offence under Section 55(1) of the CDSA.
The man will be charged with two counts of possessing of property reasonably suspected to be benefits from criminal conduct under Section 55(1) of the CDSA. Anyone found guilty of possessing or using property that may be reasonably suspected of being benefits of criminal conduct and failing to account satisfactorily for how he or she came by the property, under Section 55(1) of the CDSA, shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $150,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or both.
The Police take a serious view of these offences and will not hesitate to take action against anyone who allows his or her bank accounts to be used for illegal purposes, such as the laundering of criminal proceeds. To avoid being an accomplice to crimes, members of the public should always reject requests by others to use their bank accounts as they will be held accountable if the bank accounts are linked to crimes.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
26 January 2023 @ 10:50 PM