Man charged over receiving, transferring scam proceeds and providing illegal payment services
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SINGAPORE – A 53-year-old man allegedly provided details of his bank accounts to someone he met online.
Chong Tak Meng later received more than $59,000 in the accounts, which he converted into cryptocurrency before transferring the digital coins back to the person.
The police said the money in Chong’s accounts came from seven scam victims.
On Feb 21, Chong was charged with one count under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act and one under the Payment Services Act.
He did not enter a plea of guilt and his case will be mentioned again on March 21.
Preliminary investigations by the police found that Chong had converted $59,750 into Tether tokens, or USDT, between September and October 2021.
He then transferred all the tokens into two digital wallets despite reasonably understanding that the money comprised proceeds from criminal conduct, according to the investigation.
Between August and September 2021, he had provided payment services in Singapore without the necessary licence. During this period, he received more than $44,300 through seven transactions.
He then converted the entire amount into Bitcoin and sent it to wallets provided by an unknown individual.
Checks on Singapore’s business registry show Chong had incorporated Tak Transport some time in 2017. The company was registered as a car rental and leasing firm.
Chong was listed as the sole owner of the business, which has since shut down.
Those found guilty of providing any type of payment service in Singapore without a licence, unless exempted, can be fined up to $125,000, jailed for up to three years, or both.
Chong could also face up to 10 years’ jail and/or a fine of up to $500,000 if found guilty of converting, transferring or removing another person’s benefits from criminal conduct from Singapore’s jurisdiction.
