Three women and one man, aged between 26 and 50, will be charged in court on 17 June 2020 for allegedly acting as money mules by allowing their bank accounts to be used to receive criminal proceeds of more than S$28,000 in total from online scams, which were mostly Internet love scams.
The four will be charged for offences under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Offences (Confiscation of Benefits) Act (‘CDSA’), the Penal Code and the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order & Nuisance) Act.
The first person, a 31-year-old Singaporean woman, allegedly received S$17,000 in her bank account from a victim of an Internet love scam in January 2019. She will be charged for one count of dishonest misappropriation of property under Section 403 of the Penal Code.
The second person, a 26-year-old Singaporean woman, allegedly received S$3,500 from another money mule, who transferred the money to her bank account in April 2018. Investigations revealed that the said amount belonged to a victim of an Internet love scam. She will be charged for one count of possessing property which may be reasonably suspected to be fraudulently obtained under Section 35(1) of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order & Nuisance) Act. She faces another charge of attempting to abet another person to pervert the course of justice under Section 204A read with Section 116 of the Penal Code by obstructing investigations.
The third person, a 50-year-old Singaporean man, allegedly received S$2,200 from a victim of an Internet love scam and remitted S$1,988 to an overseas account in September 2019. He will be charged with one count of acquiring criminal benefits of another person under Section 47(3) of the CDSA and one count of transferring the criminal benefits under Section 47(2)(b) of the CDSA.
The fourth person, a 50-year-old Singaporean woman, allegedly received criminal proceeds amounting to S$5,750 in her bank account in January 2020. A victim of an online lottery scam had transferred the said amount to her bank account. She will be charged for one count of assisting another to retain benefits from criminal conduct under Section 44(1) of the CDSA.
Anyone found guilty of acquiring, transferring or assisting another to retain benefits from criminal conduct under the CDSA faces imprisonment of up to 10 years, or a fine up to S$500,000, or both. Anyone found guilty of dishonestly misappropriating property faces imprisonment of up to two years, or a fine, or both. Anyone found guilty of possessing property which may be reasonably suspected to be fraudulently obtained faces imprisonment of up to one year, or a fine of up to $3,000, or both. Anyone found guilty of perverting the course of justice by obstructing investigations faces imprisonment of up to seven years, or a fine, or both.
The Police would like to warn members of the public that they should not lend their personal bank accounts to any person or receive funds from unknown sources in their bank accounts. Doing so may unwittingly assist 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.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
16 June 2020 @ 3:45 PM