Man to be charged over allegedly collecting, transferring $500,000 in scam proceeds

SINGAPORE - A man will be charged over allegedly using multiple bank accounts to collect about $500,000 in scam-related proceeds and moving the funds to cryptocurrency wallets overseas.

The police said on Jan 10 that they received reports in May 2023 of an Internet love scam in which money was transferred to a bank account belonging to the 47-year-old man.

He allegedly had multiple bank accounts under his name and used these to receive funds from suspicious sources, the police said.

He then converted the money to cryptocurrency and transferred that to overseas digital wallets.

The man is believed to have collected $50,000 in cash from a scam victim near her workplace in March 2023.

He was acting on the instructions of a female friend he had met on an online dating application.

The man is expected to be charged on Jan 11 with providing payment services without a licence and possessing money believed to be benefits of criminal conduct. 

Offenders who provide any type of unlicensed payment service as a business in Singapore may be fined up to $125,000, jailed for up to three years, or both. 

Those who possess benefits from criminal conduct may be fined up to $500,000, jailed for up to 10 years, or both.

The police warned the public about scammers who recruit people to receive and transfer illicit money. Scammers may cultivate potential money mules through online dating platforms to help transfer illegal proceeds.

If the money received and transferred has been stolen, or constitutes proceeds of crime, the bank account holder will be investigated and may be charged over his involvement in a criminal offence, the police said. 

The police urged the public to reject requests to use their bank accounts to receive, transfer or collect money for another person.