SINGAPORE - Even after a customer paid Poh Heng more than $20,000 in cash from his bag and pockets, the jeweller did not raise the alarm to the authorities about the transaction.

The cash was eventually revealed to be part of criminal proceeds from a scam that cheated government agency SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) of almost $40 million.

The customer Andy Quek turned out to be a member of the criminal syndicate behind the scam.

Poh Heng was convicted on Tuesday (Aug 11) over its failure to submit a cash transaction report to the authorities, the first case of its kind here.

It was fined $9,000 after pleading guilty to one charge under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act.

Based on regulations introduced under the Act in 2014, dealers in precious stones and/or precious metals are required to submit such a report to the authorities if they enter into a single cash transaction with a customer worth over $20,000.

They have to do so within 15 business days after the transaction.

Offenders who fail to submit the report when required may be jailed for up to two years and/or fined up to $20,000.

Court documents state that Quek bought several pieces of jewellery, including two diamond bracelets, worth a total of $28,078 from Poh Heng on Oct 7, 2017.

The SkillsFuture scam involved submitting bogus claims for subsidies on training courses to SSG, which oversees the SkillsFuture initiative aimed at promoting lifelong learning among Singaporeans.

The group used nine shell companies to submit a total of 8,386 fraudulent course fee grant applications and a corresponding 8,391 claims to SSG between May and October 2017.

SSG eventually paid about $39.9 million for the grants and claims.