A 19-year-old man, Chester Tan Ting Hao (“Chester”), was charged in court on 2 September 2022 for allegedly assisting another to retain benefits of criminal conduct.
In October 2021, Chester had allegedly provided his Internet banking login ID, password, and One-Time-Password to an unknown person whom he met on Telegram, who offered to pay him $1,200 for using his bank account for seven days. Chester allegedly did so despite knowing that the bank account would be used for unlawful activities. A sum of $31,032, believed to be criminal proceeds related to scams, was transferred into the bank account.
The offence of assisting another to retain benefits of criminal conduct under Section 51(1)(a) of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992, is punishable with imprisonment of up to 10 years or a fine of up to $500,000, or both.
The Police will not hesitate to take action against anyone involved in arrangements to allow 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 account as they will be held accountable if the bank accounts are linked to crimes.
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. All information will be kept strictly confidential.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
01 September 2022 @ 6:20 PM