SINGAPORE - A 40-year-old man who was allegedly involved in laundering more than $10 million linked to a Covid-19 scam will be charged on Wednesday (Feb 24).

In a press release on Tuesday (Feb 23) night, the police said they were alerted in March last year to a case of an overseas pharmaceutical company being scammed of €6.636 million (S$10.2 million) for the purchase of surgical masks and hand sanitisers.

The company had transferred the monies to a local bank, but the items were not delivered and the supplier became uncontactable.

Officers from the Commercial Affairs Department arrested the man, who allegedly received the money here, on March 25.

He had allegedly known the money was from criminal proceeds, and had purportedly used, transferred and removed part of it from Singapore.

The man is expected to be charged under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act.

If convicted of money laundering, he can be jailed for up to 10 years, or fined up to $500,000, or both.

The police said they take a serious view of all those who take advantage of the pandemic to commit crimes.

For more information on scams, members of the public can visit scamalert.sg or call the anti-scam hotline at 1800-722-6688.

Anyone with information on such scams can call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit information online.