A 45-year-old Singaporean man has been convicted in court for his involvement in a case of money laundering in relation to an Internet love scam and intentionally attempting to obstruct the course of justice.
In January 2018, the Police received a report from a 49-year-old female victim who was purportedly cheated into transferring a total of $71,560 into various bank accounts, one of which belonged to the man’s mother. A scammer had befriended the victim on a social media platform and led her to believe that they were in a relationship. The scammer also claimed to send the victim a gift parcel. The victim subsequently received calls from a woman, claiming to be a customs official, who instructed the victim to transfer money in order to receive the parcel.
Through investigations, officers from the Commercial Affairs Department established the identity of the man and arrested him on 26 May 2018. Investigations revealed that the man had used his mother’s bank account and assisted a foreign crime syndicate to receive and transfer the criminal proceeds. He pleaded guilty on 27 November 2020 to one count of assisting another party to retain criminal benefits under Section 44(1)(a) of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Offences (Confiscation of Benefits) Act and two counts of attempting to intentionally obstruct the course of justice, punishable under section 204A read with section 511(1) of the Penal Code (Cap 224, 2008 Rev Ed). The man was sentenced to an imprisonment term of 7 months and 7 weeks.
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, or a fine up to S$500,000, or both. Anyone who intentionally obstructs the course of justice may be punished with up to 7 years’ imprisonment, or fine or both.
The Police would like to warn members of the public that they should not give their personal bank accounts to any person or receive funds from unknown sources in their bank accounts. Should they do so, they may have assisted 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 helpline 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
29 November 2020 @ 12:15 AM