Singapore authorities recover USD 736M worth of cars, cash and other goods in massive fraud crackdown

More than 400 officers from interagency organizations in the massive crackdown Tuesday, with multiple locations across Singapore raided simultaneously; 10 individuals of various nationalities arrested; raids stem from suspicious transactions flagged by financial institutions.

Original story by Channel News Asia

About S$1 billion (US$736 million) in assets, including properties, vehicles, luxury goods and gold bars, have been seized or frozen in one of Singapore’s largest police probes into money laundering and forgery offences.

Ten people, aged between 31 and 44, were charged in court on Wednesday (Aug 16) night in connection with the investigation.

They are of Cypriot, Turkish, Chinese, Cambodian and Ni-Vanuatu nationalities. Those who were not of Chinese nationality were found to be in possession of foreign passports believed to be issued by China and other countries. All 10 people have been remanded.

Twelve others are assisting with investigations while eight more are wanted by the police.

“These persons are believed to have connections among themselves. All the persons involved are neither Singapore citizens nor permanent residents,” said SPF.

The nine men and one woman were arrested in simultaneous raids at multiple locations islandwide, including at Good Class Bungalows (GCB) and condominiums.

According to the police, some of the suspects lived in GCBs in the Holland and Nassim Road area.

The police said they acted on information about possible illicit activities, including the use of suspected forged documents that were used to substantiate the source of funds in Singapore bank accounts.

Through extensive investigations, including the analysis of suspicious transaction reports, the police identified a group of foreigners suspected to be involved in laundering proceeds from their organised crime activities overseas. These activities include scams and online gambling.

More than 400 officers – from the Commercial Affairs Department, the Criminal Investigation Department, Special Operations Command and the Police Intelligence Department – mounted simultaneous raids at multiple locations across Singapore on Tuesday.

Prohibition of disposal orders were issued against 94 properties and 50 vehicles, with a total estimated value of more than S$815 million, as well as multiple ornaments and bottles of liquor and wine.

Learn more on the other assets seized by Singapore authorities and how the Monetary Authority of Singapore raised red flags early on that led to the eventual crackdown by reading the original article at Channel News Asia here: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/1-billion-properties-luxury-cars-money-laundering-probe-foreigners-arrested-3703331