Russian man, Singaporean woman to be charged with alleged money laundering, other offences

A 35-year-old Russian man and a 42-year-old Singaporean woman will be charged in court on Friday (Oct 9) for their alleged involvement in money laundering and related activities.

Police said on Thursday evening that he provided corporate secretarial services to local and foreign clients through a locally established corporate service provider owned by him.

He is said to have taken on directorship in a company for one of his clients, and recruited the Singaporean woman and two other individuals to be local directors of at least five other companies.

Meanwhile, the Singaporean woman had allegedly opened a bank account and took control of the other bank accounts of the two companies for which she was appointed director.

The first two companies

According to the police, their investigations revealed that the man allegedly conspired with her to allow unidentified persons to control the two companies' bank accounts.

Its investigations also found that one of the accounts received more than US$16,200 (S$20,777), S$221,500, and about A$100,000 (S$89,980) between the period of March and June 2021.

Police said the woman could not satisfactorily account for the funds during their investigations.

In November 2021, the other bank account received almost US$164,000 in investment scam proceeds from a foreign victim.

Investigations subsequently established that the duo had reasonable grounds to believe they were involved in an arrangement facilitating the retention or control of benefits from criminal conduct on behalf of unknown persons.

Separately, the Singaporean woman was expecting to receive over $430,700 into the bank account of a third company.

However, the transfer failed, and she ended up encashing a cheque for the same amount on Dec 23, 2020.

The money, which was then handed to an unknown associate of the Russian man, was later traced to a fraud perpetrated against an overseas company.

The fourth and fifth companies

For the remaining two companies, the Russian man allegedly recruited two individuals to act as local directors.

Investigations revealed that they were informed by him that they need not exercise any supervisory oversight over the companies or bank accounts.

One of the two persons was asked to open a corporate bank account, while the other was asked to relinquish control over the same.

The Singaporean now faces a total of three charges under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking, and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act (CDSA), and two charges for abetting unauthorised access to two corporate bank accounts under the Computer Misuse Act (CMA).

The Russian man faces a total of five charges under the CDSA and CMA, and additional charges for cheating, and fraudulent or dishonest use of a forged document or electronic document as genuine.

He also faces one charge for entering into an agreement with his bailor to indemnify the said bailor against any liability which the bailor may incur as a surety to a bond bail.

The police warned that they take a serious stance against any person involved in laundering proceeds of crime, adding that offenders will be dealt with firmly in accordance with the law.

Members of the public are also advised to be cautious of assuming directorships over companies they have no knowledge of, to open corporate bank accounts and relinquish control of the same to unknown third parties, or to receive payment in exchange for lending their names and identities to facilitate such arrangements.

一名 35 岁的俄罗斯男子和一名 42 岁的新加坡女子将于周五（10 月 9 日）在法庭上被控涉嫌参与洗钱及相关活动。

警方周四晚间表示，他通过自己拥有的一家本地企业服务提供商，向本地和外国客户提供公司秘书服务。

据说他担任了其一位客户公司的董事，并招募了这位新加坡女子和另外两人担任至少五家其他公司的当地董事。

与此同时，据称这名新加坡女子开设了一个银行账户，并控制了她被任命为董事的两家公司的其他银行账户。

前两家公司

据警方称，他们的调查显示，该男子涉嫌与她合谋，允许身份不明的人控制这两家公司的银行账户。

调查还发现，其中一个账户在 2021 年 3 月至 6 月期间收到了超过 16,200 美元（20,777 新元）、221,500 新元和约 100,000 澳元（89,980 新元）。

警方表示，在调查过程中，该女子无法对资金来源做出令人满意的解释。

2021 年 11 月，另一个银行账户收到了来自一名外国受害者的近 164,000 美元投资诈骗所得。

随后的调查证实，两人有合理的理由相信他们参与了一项安排，该安排旨在帮助不明身份的人保留或控制犯罪行为所得的利益。

此外，这位新加坡女子还预期会收到超过 430,700 美元汇入第三家公司的银行账户。

然而，转账失败了，她最终在 2020 年 12 月 23 日兑现了一张相同金额的支票。

这笔钱随后被交给了这名俄罗斯男子的一名身份不明的同伙，后来被查明与一起针对海外公司的诈骗案有关。

第四和第五家公司

据称，这名俄罗斯男子为另外两家公司招募了两名当地董事。

调查显示，他曾告知他们无需对这些公司或银行账户行使任何监督权。

其中一人被要求开设公司银行账户，而另一人则被要求放弃对该账户的控制权。

这名新加坡人目前面临《贪污、贩毒及其他严重罪行（没收利益）法令》（CDSA）下的三项指控，以及《计算机滥用法令》（CMA）下的两项教唆他人未经授权访问两个公司银行账户的指控。

这名俄罗斯男子面临《受管制物质法》和《消费品法》下的五项指控，以及欺诈、欺诈或不诚实地使用伪造文件或电子文件作为真品的额外指控。

他还面临一项指控，即与保释人达成协议，赔偿该保释人因作为保释担保人而可能承担的任何责任。

警方警告说，他们将对任何参与洗钱的人采取严肃态度，并补充说，违法者将依法受到严厉惩处。

公众也被建议谨慎行事，不要在不了解的情况下担任公司董事，不要开设公司银行账户并将控制权移交给不知名的第三方，也不要为了促成此类安排而收受报酬，出借自己的姓名和身份信息。