Man sentenced to 5 weeks’ jail for providing unlicensed payment services
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SINGAPORE - A 26-year-old man who helped provide unlicensed payment services in Singapore was sentenced to five weeks’ jail on Friday.
The police said in a statement that Das Ashish Kumar had allowed someone to use his bank account to deposit US$78,850 (S$106,100) in September 2020 by giving out his ATM card, personal identification number (PIN) and Internet banking credentials.
Within two days, about US$45,150 – suspected to come from remittance fraud operations – was siphoned out in cash withdrawals and fund transfers.
In March 2021, the Commercial Affairs Department was alerted to US$34,650 and US$10,500 being transferred into Ashish’s bank account from a suspected victim of remittance fraud based in another country.
Investigations found Ashish had also withdrawn or transferred $23,900 he had received on behalf of another person.
The police also found that the unknown person had worked with two people to operate a business of providing cross-border money transfer services in Singapore by receiving money from overseas and withdrawing them in Singapore in return for a commission.
However, the three of them did not have a licence to run a business of providing any type of payment service in Singapore, nor were they exempt payment service providers, the statement said.
The police said: “By allowing his bank account to be used to receive monies from overseas and withdrawing them in Singapore, Ashish had abetted by intentionally aiding the carrying on a business of providing payment services without a licence.”
Those participating in a business of providing any type of payment services, including cross-border money transfer services, in Singapore without a licence can be imprisoned for up to three years, fined a maximum of $125,000, or both.
In the case of a continuing offence, they can be fined up to $12,500 for every day during which the offence continues after conviction.
Ashish was found guilty on Wednesday.
The police statement said the analysis of a suspicious transaction report helped to spot the offence, which shows how useful financial intelligence can be in detecting criminal activities.
It said: “Any knowledge or reasonable suspicion of criminal conduct should be reported to the authorities as soon as reasonably practicable.”
The police also advised people to use only payment service providers licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Unlicensed payment services are unregulated and not subject to strict anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism measures, they added.
Last week, the police said they had seized over $1 million and are investigating seven men
