A 29-year-old Malaysian man was convicted on 10 January 2022 under the Payment Services Act 2019, for carrying on a business of providing a payment service without a licence. The man pleaded guilty to the offence and was sentenced to seven weeks’ imprisonment and a fine of $645.
Investigations by the Commercial Affairs Department revealed that between 9 May 2021 and 14 May 2021, the man had carried on a business of providing a payment service. He received six fund transfers amounting to SGD21,500 in his bank accounts and made six outward transfers amounting to MYR65,619 to another bank account in Malaysia. These transactions were done on the instructions of an unknown person who paid the man commission for each transaction. The money deposited into his bank accounts were established to be proceeds of crime transferred by three victims of scams.
The man did not have a licence to carry on a business of providing any type of payment service in Singapore and he was not an exempt payment service provider under the Payment Services Act 2019.
For carrying on a business of providing payment services without a licence under Section 5(1) punishable under Section 5(3) of the Payment Services Act 2019, the offence carries a fine of up to $125,000 or imprisonment for a term of up to three years or both.
The Police would like to caution the public that scammers are recruiting people to transfer stolen money on their behalf. Scammers may advertise jobs that allow you to work from home and offer attractive salaries to perform relatively easy tasks like using your personal bank account to receive and transfer money. Legitimate companies will not require you to utilise your personal bank account to receive money on their behalf. If the money that you receive and transfer is stolen money or linked to crimes, you may be investigated and charged for committing a criminal offence. You should reject requests to use your personal bank accounts to receive and transfer money for others.
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
11 January 2022 @ 3:50 PM