By Meagan Clark - Singapore reported a record number of money laundering cases last year and seized more than $92 million in suspected criminal proceeds as more foreign criminals seek bank accouts there, according to an annual report from the city-state’s Commerce Affairs Department (CAD).
“Singapore’s openness as an international transport hub and financial center exposes it to cross-border money-laundering and terrorist financing risks,” Tan Boon Gin, director of the department, said in a statement. “We are seeing a trend of overseas criminals seeking to launder money through Singapore bank accounts.”
The International Monetary Fund ranks Singapore as one of the top 25 most important financial hubs in the world for its international reach, volume of transactions and growing size. As Singapore’s financial industry expands, the criminals seeking bank accounts there are getting more sophisticated.
The island country has tripled the financial investigation resources of its white-collar police unit to fight the increase in suspicious transaction reports and fulfill aid requests from foreign agencies trying to curb the organized crime groups, the agency said.
The agency received 22,417 suspicious transactions reports in 2013, 25 percent more than a year ago, and shared financial intelligence to foreign agencies in 341 cases, up from 160 in 2012, according to the report. The white-collar police received 164 requests for assistance from overseas. In 2013, the agency seized $51 million in suspected criminal proceeds.
Singapore is cracking down on money laundering after U.S. authorities investigated several Swiss banks for their account handlings on behalf of American clients.
“CAD’s goal must be to make Singapore inhospitable to fraudsters, cheaters, scammers and launderers,” Ng Joo Hee, CAD police commissioner, said in a statement. “There has to be no hiding place for those of that ilk, and their apprehension and prosecution must be a near certainty.”