Total value of assets seized in money laundering case now more than $2.8 billion
Singapore’s second minister for Home Affairs, Josephine Teo, announced in parliament on October 3rd that the value of assets seized in the country’s largest money laundering case has now passed $2.8 billion.
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This includes properties and vehicles totaling $1.24 billion, funds in bank accounts totaling more than $1.45 billion, and nearly $38 million worth of cryptocurrencies. These figures were far higher than the initial $1 billion that was estimated at the start of the case in mid August. In addition, the police have seized thousands of bottles of liquor and wine, 68 gold bars, 294 luxury bags, 164 luxury watches, and 546 pieces of jewelry.
Teo went on to explain that in early 2021, law enforcement agencies picked up signals of the case. In early 2022, they undertook an intelligence probe to further investigate the situation, with efforts focused on a small, tight-knit group of officers to avoid alerting the suspects. The 10 suspects have now been arrested and denied bail, and investigations are ongoing.
The second minister for finance and national development, Indranee Rajah, then announced that a new inter-ministerial committee will be established in order to review and strengthen Singapore’s anti-money laundering regime. The committee, which will be chaired by Rajah and also include officials from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Law, the Ministry of Manpower, and the Ministry of Trade and Industry, will address several specific areas. These include preventing corporate structures from being abused by money launderers, bolstering the financial institutions’ ability to flag suspicious transactions, collaborating with real estate agents and jewelry dealers to prevent money laundering, and better detection capabilities across different government agencies.