Man, 31, arrested for money laundering activities linked to impersonation scam

A 31-year-old man has been arrested for his suspected involvement in money laundering activities.

The police said in a statement that on Dec 7, 2022, they received a report about an alleged government officials impersonation scam involving almost up to $100,000 in losses.

The money was found to have been credited into another bank account in Singapore.

Officers from the Commercial Affairs Department established the identity of the man and arrested him.

Several case exhibits such as cash amounting to $6,700, four mobile phones, seven SIM cards, 35 bank cards and a portable money-counting machine were found and seized.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the money was withdrawn through numerous cash withdrawals at Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in Singapore.

The man is alleged to be concerned in an arrangement with unknown persons to facilitate the unknown persons' control of the benefits from criminal conduct by withdrawing at least $160,000 from a bank account in Singapore.

The man will be charged in court on Friday (Jan 13) with the offence of transferring benefits of criminal conduct.

Those convicted will be fined up to $500,000 and/or jail term not exceeding 10 years.

"The police will not hesitate to take action against anyone involved in any arrangement to allow his or her bank accounts to be used for illegal purposes, such as the laundering of criminal proceeds," the police said in their statement.

"To avoid being an accomplice to crimes, members of the public should always reject requests by others to open and/or sell bank accounts, or receive money in their bank accounts, as they will be held accountable if these are linked to criminal activities.