12 Malaysians Held in Joint Money Laundering Operation

The authorities in Malaysia and Singapore collaborated on a cross-border crackdown on financial crimes, leading to the arrest of 12 Malaysians.

The arrests are based on investigations at “two locations in Johor” and there was the possibility that suspects were using Singaporean bank accounts for illicit activities including money laundering.

Financial Crime Crackdown by CAD and CCID

Following the raid on August 9 by the “Commercial Affairs Department (CAD)” and the Johor “Commercial Crime Investigation Department” (CCID), a 22-year-old Malaysian was sent to Singapore on August 18 to face legal charges announced by the “Singapore Police Force (SPF).”

After extensive investigations and collections of evidence, a remarkable discovery was made which was the “identification of an operating money laundering unit in Johar”.

It is claimed, “The suspect is believed to be responsible for bringing foreigners to Singapore to open bank accounts to facilitate money-laundering activities relating to scams.”

Key characters in illicit activities

Suspect “Besmond Huan Yu Kang” was brought to the district court on Monday where he was officially accused of committing a crime.

He has been accused of accompanying another mate “Tan Kang Yung,” and others to get unlawful access to Singaporean bank accounts by getting “specific user identifications and passwords”.

Penalty for Besmond Huan Yu Kang

If Huan is found guilty of money laundering then he could face a hefty fine with imprisonment of maximum 3 years. 

Huan is under custody right now and his next trial will be on 23 August, 2024.

Combined Efforts to target Online Money laundering

As per the report, the Singapore Police Force has decided to keep collaborating with Malaysian authorities to “detect and deter transnational crime syndicates” that utilizes the Internet as a medium to promote their illicit activities such as money laundering in banks, CAD director David Chew announced.

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