The Merlion statue and the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore, on Tuesday, 3 January 2023. (Photo: Lionel Ng/Bloomberg) Of the amount that was confiscated between January 2019 and June 2024, some S$416-million has been returned to victims while S$1-billion has been forfeited to the state, according to a report released on Wednesday by the government. In last year’s S$3-billion money laundering case, about S$944-million has already been forfeited to the state, the report stated.
Authorities in the city-state have observed that money laundering activities are increasingly sophisticated, involving swift movement of large sums of illicit funds and affecting many victims across borders, according to the report that sets out the country’s approach toward recovering illicit assets.
“Even the most robust preventive and asset recovery measures can be circumvented by determined and creative criminals,” the report stated, adding Singapore will continually enhance its rules to prevent such crimes.
The report also outlined legal frameworks to detect crime, including an anti-money laundering bill that’s expected this year.
Read More: Singapore Says Banks Pose Highest Laundering Risk After Scandal
Among ongoing measures to tackle money laundering risks, the city-state has been demanding more information from family offices and hedge funds while stepping up closures of dormant firms, Bloomberg News has reported. Banks in the financial hub are also ramping up scrutiny of their wealthy customers and potential clients to avoid exposure to illicit flows, people familiar with the matter have said.