S’pore plans to amend laws to deal with money mules, who now often get off the hook

Mr K. Shanmugam said that the maximum penalties vary depending on the offences. PHOTO: ST FILE

SINGAPORE - The police have arrested a “large number” of money mules for facilitating scams, but many of them are let off the hook and cannot be prosecuted. This is because there are difficulties in proving their intent to facilitate such scams.

This will change, as the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is looking into amending laws to plug this gap, said Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam.

Mr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang) had asked about common penalties for money mules and whether penalties can be increased as a deterrent.

In a written reply to Parliament on Tuesday, Mr Shanmugam said: “In short, the issue is not with the penalties in our current laws, but our laws need to be enhanced to make it easier to make out money laundering offences in such scam cases.”

The selling of Singpass details, which are then used to facilitate scams, is another problem that the authorities are working to tackle.

MHA is looking at introducing new provisions to curb such abuses of Singpass, and more information will be provided when these are ready, Mr Shanmugam said.

Money mules who knowingly give up control of or sell their bank account or Singpass login details for the purposes of scams and money laundering activities will be investigated by the police, he added.

They may also be prosecuted in court under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes Act (CDSA), the Computer Misuse Act (CMA), the Payment Services Act or the Penal Code.

Mr Shanmugam said those who sell their bank account or Singpass login details usually do so of their own volition, enticed by commissions and monetary benefits.

He cited two cases of money mules who were jailed in January.

In the first case, a man who was prosecuted under the CDSA was jailed for nine months for selling his bank account details, which were later used in various scams.

In the second case, a man who was prosecuted under the CMA was jailed for four weeks for selling his Internet banking details, which were later used in a love scam.

Mr Shanmugam said the maximum penalties vary depending on the offences.

For example, a person convicted of an offence under the CMA may be jailed for up to three years and fined up to $10,000.

But a person convicted of an offence under the CDSA may be jailed for up to 10 years and fined up to $500,000.

Mr Shanmugam noted that the strict penalties are already in place, but the issue is in making out the money laundering offences so that money mules can be prosecuted.

He said: “Money mules facilitate the perpetration of scams. To fight scams more effectively, we need to prevent and deter individuals from acting as money mules.”

There were 31,728 scam cases reported here in 2022, up from 23,933 cases in 2021. Victims in Singapore lost a total of $660.7 million in 2022, up from $632 million in 2021, the police said.

In a news release on Monday, the police said 23 people aged 17 to 48 were arrested for their suspected involvement in perpetrating various scams.

These included 36-year-old Sazali Karim, who was charged on Tuesday with two counts of selling his Singpass details, which were then allegedly used by scam syndicates to create new bank accounts.

According to court documents, he sold his details twice in October 2022 for a total of $8,000. His case is expected to be heard again on March 8.

In March 2022, then Minister of State for Home Affairs Desmond Tan said MHA would be amending the CDSA to allow for money mules to be prosecuted at lower levels of culpability.

That month, The Straits Times also reported on young people becoming money mules after being lured by easy money.

On Tuesday, Mr Shanmugam said the amendments will place greater onus on individuals.

He said: “We will be introducing new provisions and penalties to the CDSA to impose obligations on individuals to exercise greater accountability and vigilance when transferring money on behalf of others.”

Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.