Ministerial statement: Josephine Teo on Singapore’s anti-money laundering regime

Singapore has in place a robust anti-money laundering regime and is held in high regard internationally for its strong, principled and no-nonsense approach to taking down individuals who break the laws, said Second Minister for Home Affairs Josephine Teo. In a ministerial statement in Parliament on Tuesday (Oct 3), she said Singapore has strengthened its regime and updated its prevention frameworks to keep pace with the evolving risks and typologies of money laundering, and strengthened its capabilities to proactively detect and take firm enforcement action. Updating the House on the ongoing investigations into a multi-billion-dollar money laundering case, she said the case is a reminder that even the most stringent preventive measures can be circumvented by determined criminals. But it also shows that Singapore’s system is able to detect suspicious individuals and activities and has the resolve and capabilities to track them down and take them to task. Mrs Teo said the Government has been undertaking ongoing reviews in various sectors to tighten the anti-money laundering regime. “Learning from this case, we will consider further measures to strengthen our regime,” she said. Second Minister for Finance Indranee Rajah will be leading an Inter-Ministerial Committee involving the relevant sectoral regulators, she said. Mrs Teo said the Police operation has strengthened Singapore’s reputation as a serious and high-quality financial centre and for law and order. “It will strengthen trust and confidence among investors and Singaporeans that we run a clean system that stands among the tallest in the world,” she said. Mrs Teo outlined the chain of events in one of Singapore’s largest anti-money laundering operations, with simultaneous raids on multiple locations on Aug 15 this year.  So far, 10 people have been arrested and charged with offences, including laundering criminal proceeds. The proceeds likely came from criminal activities that took place outside of Singapore. These include illegal online gambling and unlicensed money lending. Some of the accused have been charged with forgery as well. Two of them have been charged with additional offences of resisting arrest and perverting the course of justice. Many others, not arrested, are assisting with investigations. Others are wanted for investigations but are not in Singapore. In an update on Sep 20, Police said the total value of assets seized or issued with prohibition of disposal orders stood at more than S$2.4 billion. Since then, Police have conducted more operations and extensive investigations. To date, the total value of assets seized or issued with prohibition of disposal orders stands at more than S$2.8 billion. These include prohibition of disposal orders issued against 152 properties and 62 vehicles with a total estimated value of more than S$1.24 billion, as well as thousands of bottles of liquor and wine, along with seizures of monies in bank accounts amounting to more than S$1.45 billion, cash amounting to more than S$76 million, cryptocurrencies of more than S$38 million, 68 gold bars, 294 luxury bags, 164 luxury watches and 546 pieces of jewellery. “As we probe further, there may be more arrests and assets seized,” said Mrs Teo. She said the seized assets will be dealt with accordingly and under Singapore’s laws, depending on the findings. The disposal will be conducted by the courts. There are also ongoing probes by various sectoral regulators, including Government agencies overseeing corporate service providers, real estate agents and financial institutions. Police are working closely with the sectoral regulators and will take action against the companies and individuals should criminal offences, negligence or non-compliance be disclosed. Mrs Teo pointed out some of those arrested made donations to charities in Singapore. Some charities have decided on their own to ringfence these donations. Others have made police reports and plan to surrender the monies to the police. The Commissioner of Charities will issue an advisory to encourage all charities to review their donor records to ascertain whether they have received donations from the arrested individuals and entities linked to them, and file the requisite Suspicious Transaction Reports. It will also include advice to charities on how to handle the monies. “This case is one of the largest anti-money laundering operations not just in Singapore, but likely the world. We probed extensively to uncover the linkages. We were comprehensive in our actions and operation. We will not hesitate to take strong enforcement action against people who would use Singapore as a haven to launder proceeds of crime. We will deal with them and their ill-gotten gains to the fullest extent of our laws,” said Mrs Teo.