A 53-year-old man will be charged in court on 21 February 2025 for his suspected involvement in scam offences under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act (Cap 65A, 2000 Rev Ed) and the Payment Services Act 2019.
Preliminary Investigations revealed that the man had allegedly provided details of various bank accounts under his control to an unidentified individual whom he met online. The said bank accounts were subsequently used to receive criminal proceeds from seven victims of scam. Between September and October 2021, the man allegedly converted more than $59,000 of the proceeds into the cryptocurrency Tether (“USDT”), which he then transferred to wallet addresses designated by the unidentified individual.
The man, who did not have a licence to carry on a business of providing any type of payment service in Singapore, nor was he an exempted service provider in respect of such payment service, also allegedly operated a business of providing digital payment token services without a valid licence. He had received more than $44,000 across seven transactions in the bank accounts which he converted into the cryptocurrency Bitcoin (“BTC”), before transferring the BTC to wallet addresses designated by the unidentified individual.
Under Section 47(2), punishable under Section 47(6)(a) of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act, offenders convicted of converting or transferring or removing property from the jurisdiction knowing that it represents another person’s benefits from criminal conduct may be liable to an imprisonment term of up to 10 years and/or a fine not exceeding $500,000.
Under Section 5(3) of the Payment Services Act 2019, a person who carries on a business of providing any type of payment service in Singapore without a license unless he is exempted under the Act, shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $125,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both.
The Police take a serious stance against any person involved in the laundering of proceeds of crime, and offenders will be dealt with firmly in accordance with the law. To avoid being an accomplice in these crimes, members of the public should always reject requests to receive and transfer money for others, as they will be held accountable if these are linked to criminal activities.
For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamshield.gov.sg or call the ScamShield Helpline at 1799. Anyone with information on such scams may call the Police Hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/i-witness. All information will be kept strictly confidential.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
20 February 2025 @ 1:20 PM