Singapore’s $1.3 billion investigation exposes paid passports of Chinese criminals
Singapore’s $1.3 billion investigation exposes paid passports of Chinese criminals
Chinese police have blocked hundreds of money transfers from Singapore, many of them from Samrit, a licensed money exchanger based in the city’s Chinatown district, according to complaints lodged with Singaporean authorities. It is said that
Tan Mingxi said in his lawsuit that Chinese police allegedly froze 250,000 yuan transferred to his wife’s bank account in 2022 due to “suspects of money laundering.” The remaining funds were released only after he returned to China and followed police instructions to remit 142,226 yuan to “fraud victims,” according to court documents.
Another complainant, Peng Fang Fang, said he gave Samrit S$40,000 to transfer the equivalent of about RMB195,600 to a Chinese account, but the majority of it was frozen by police. According to court filings, the third complainant, Qi Qiao, has lost S$10,576 transferred to a Chinese bank account as police investigate “illegal activities” related to the transfer. He said most of them were frozen.
Like Tan, Peng said he returned to China to answer police questions. Ms. Chee also said that she had to follow the instructions of the police. The frozen funds were removed from the bank account and Peng was informed that this was done by the Chinese National Police Bureau, according to the complaint. The complaint says all three complied with police orders “for fear of criminal consequences.”
Pang Khin Wee, a lawyer at Hoh Law Corp., said none of the plaintiffs had been accused of any wrongdoing related to the transfer of funds. Pan said they are all blue-collar workers who have lived in the city state for many years.
In his defense to the court, Samrit said none of the plaintiffs had provided “satisfactory” evidence to support their claims for the frozen money. Samrit and his attorney did not respond to email requests for further comment.
As of December 15, authorities said they had received more than 670 complaints to the Singapore Police Force about frozen remittances to China, worth S$13 million. Almost two-thirds of the reports were related to Samrit, they added.
Following a spate of seizures, the Monetary Authority of Singapore has ordered money transfer companies to only use banks or card network operators such as UnionPay International to transfer funds to China.
MAS said in a statement last month that remittance companies often used overseas agents rather than direct bank transfers to save costs. The restrictions will be in place for three months from January 1 and may be extended.
China’s anti-money laundering efforts disrupt legal remittances from Singapore
China’s anti-money laundering efforts disrupt legal remittances from Singapore
MAS said on its website in December that the directive was not linked to specific money laundering concerns.
MAS and the Singapore Police Force said at the time that they had not received any information indicating that the remittance companies were involved in money laundering or fraud, or that funds were frozen because these companies remitted the proceeds of criminal activity. Ta.
Minister of State Alvin Tan said earlier this month that Singapore was seeking clarity from the Chinese government on how senders can unlock their funds. China is the world’s third-largest recipient of remittances, with a net potential of US$50 billion in 2023, according to a World Bank report in December.
The Chinese embassy and government agencies did not respond to inquiries seeking comment on the situation.