Assets seized or frozen in anti-money laundering probe surpass S$2.8 billion in value
Jessie Lim &
Tan Nai Lun
THE total value of assets seized or frozen in Singapore’s largest anti-money laundering probe now stands at more than S$2.8 billion, up from S$2.4 billion.
These include 152 properties and 62 vehicles with a total estimated value of more than S$1.24 billion; monies in bank accounts exceeding S$1.45 billion; cash of more than S$76 million; and cryptocurrencies of more than S$38 million.
The police have also seized thousands of bottles of liquor and wine, 68 gold bars, 294 luxury bags, 164 luxury watches and 546 pieces of jewellery.
The 152 properties issued with prohibition-of-disposal orders include 94 residential properties, of which 34 were uncompleted, 53 commercial properties and five industrial ones.
These figures were revealed in Parliament on Tuesday (Oct 3), during which Second Minister for Home Affairs Josephine Teo, Second Minister for Finance and National Development Indranee Rajah, and Minister of State for Trade and Industry Alvin Tan delivered statements addressing the case.
“This case is one of the largest anti-money laundering operations, not just in Singapore, but likely in the world,” said Teo.
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She said Singapore’s anti-money laundering enforcement agents first picked up signals of a case in 2021. The police launched an intelligence probe in early 2022.
Following probes, extensive reviews of information and examination of evidence, the police moved against the suspects in August 2023, Teo said.
After a raid carried out simultaneously on several Good Class Bungalows and condominiums on Aug 15, 10 foreign nationals were arrested.
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More than 50 parliamentary questions were filed on the S$2.8 billion money laundering case last month and for the Oct 3 sitting, asking about the policies in place to tackle money laundering and new measures that may be implemented.
Teo said Singapore’s anti-money laundering strategy has three prongs: prevention, detection and enforcement.
As part of detection efforts, all persons have a duty to inform the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office (STRO) if they know or have reasonable grounds to suspect that any property or transaction may be illicit.
The STRO received 43,000 Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) a year between 2020 and 2022, said Teo. This works out to more than 150 every working day.
If STRO assesses that the intelligence it receives, including STRs, is relevant, it disseminates the information to the relevant government agencies, which then conduct further investigations.
Responding to a question on the resources dedicated to tackling money laundering, Tan said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) set up an anti-money laundering department in 2016.
This department reviews regulatory policies, supervises financial institutions’ management of risks, and keeps tabs on emerging trends and typologies.
Tan said the (department) has 40 staff and works closely with other departments to tackle money laundering and counter financial terrorism, but that there is a volume of (transactions).
MAS is therefore also using data analytics and network analysis tools to conduct system-wide money laundering and terrorist-financing risk surveillance, he added.
In her speech, Indranee noted that money laundering is often carried out through asset acquisition, and that real estate is a valuable and attractive asset class, with “higher risks of money laundering”. Property agents and developers are the “first line of defence” and have a duty to perform customer due diligence checks on their clients or customers, she said.
This includes verifying the identity of the client, or the beneficial owner, screening these parties, assessing their level of risk and keeping records of relevant documents.
Conveyancing lawyers, accountants and financial institutions, who are involved in nearly all property transactions, similarly have anti-money laundering obligations, Indranee said.
Landlords, if they have reasonable grounds to suspect their tenants, are also required to file STRs.
Investigations are ongoing into the property agencies and agents who had facilitated transactions for the properties involved in the money laundering probe, Indranee said.
In response to questions relating to purchases of landed residential properties by foreigners, Indranee said 34 such approvals were granted last year for purchases on Singapore’s mainland. This was down from 51 in 2021, but up from 24 in 2020.
For purchases of landed residential property on Sentosa Island, 88 applications were received over three years. All but two have been approved. The proportion of foreign property purchases is about 2 per cent, she added
Fielding questions from MPs on how the government detects illicit activities conducted through companies incorporated in Singapore, she said the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra) screens the officers and shareholders in its registers against lists of known adverse information.
Non-residents looking to set up companies in Singapore must engage Acra-authorised corporate service providers, also known as registered filing agents, to incorporate a company.
It was previously reported that a Singapore resident was listed as director, secretary and shareholder of 185 companies here, several of which were linked to some of the money laundering suspects arrested.
Since 2021, Indranee said, Acra has imposed 24 sanctions against registered filing agents. In eight of these cases, the agents’ registrations were cancelled or suspended.
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