Billion Dollar Money Laundering Case : Singapore is currently facing its largest money-laundering case reported involving the Fujian Gang.

Billion Dollar Money Laundering Case summary : For those have been busy, we have summarized the different parts of the case here and their implications on various sectors in Singapore

1. Financing in Singapore

Many banks have been implicated in lending / financing transactions in this billion dollar money laundering case connected to the Fujian Gang.  Many banks will need to check on their internal compliance/ AML/ KYC processes to see if the process had indeed been followed when on-boarding such clients.  The source of wealth and the source of funds will need to be investigated thoroughly to see if they can pass muster upon a MAS AML/KYC audit.

Banks in Singapore are subject to AML/KYC rules imposed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and their home country.  So for example, if a bank is a US Bank, it will be subject to Singapore MAS Rules and US Securities and Futures Commission rules on anti money laundering (AML) and know your client (KYC) rules.  If the financial institution is also licenced in other jurisdictions, it may also be subject to other rules from other monetary regulators.

2. Property agents selling property

Given that many of the assets in this billion dollar money laundering case  involve a mixture of residential, commercial and industrial real estate in Singapore.  Property agencies and property agencies are now more careful and are looking more at anti-money laundering and KYC processes on their part in connection with this case.  We note that the Singapore media has noted that some of the commissions arising from this transaction may be clawed back by the Singapore government.

Some of the individuals in question bought up to 20 condo units from the developers.  This raises the question whether anything is wrong with our AML/KYC processes and were they complied with?  We will know soon after the investigations from the authorities are completed.  Here the buyers were not concerned about the payment of additional buyer stamp duties in their purchases of their properties and depending on when such purchases were made and the relevant rate of additional stamp duty on such purchases the actions by this gang should have raised some red flags.

Update: Someone asked me how they manage to stay in Good Class Bungalows?  They rented.  They did not buy these GCBs.

 

 

3. Car dealers

We understand that this billion dollar money laundering case involved the purchase of expensive cars like Bentleys and other fast cars.  We shall see what happens from the investigations.  Here we wish to note that some members of this Fujian Gang possibly could each acquire up to 10 to 20 cars (whether directly themselves or through their companies) each costing about S$1 million to S$2 million so they were not worried about COE costs.  We have heard that some of the car dealers had received crypto payments for such cars.  Will wait to see how the police deal with such acquisitions.

4. Watch dealers, Art Dealers, Sellers of Designer Handbags and Artwork

We understand that this gang had also been buying expensive watches, designer handbags and artwork and using this for alleged money laundering.  For more details please read this article.  We envisage additional AML/KYC rules to be imposed on all such merchants going forward to protect Singapore’s place as a global financial centre.

5. The various people implicated in the scandal are facing criminal charges.  For more details, please read this news article.  As this case is currently still ongoing, we will not comment on the charges filed against each of them.

We note that Condominiums of Singapore is also looking at this development.

In conclusion, we are closely looking at the various legal issues arising from this case so if you have any general legal questions about this case, do leave a comment below.

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