On 20 October 2021, a 42-year-old man will be prosecuted under Section 39(2) of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking, and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act for the alleged offence of failing to register a suspicious transaction report (“STR”).
The story involves a property agent and a buyer of a private property. Which started after the Police received a complaint that a person who wanted to buy a private property is a undischarged bankrupt and the co-purchaser was a child.
The purchaser’s real estate agent was a 42-year-old man. Because he did not have a bank account, the purchaser assured the guy that he would pay the 5% booking fee of $44,300 in cash. The guy agreed to collect $11,000 from the buyer on the spot and the rest $33,300 from the buyer the next day.
Deposited Illegal Money
The next day, the guy collected $32,300 from the purchaser and deposited it in a plastic bag at the purchaser’s residence. He then photographed the cash-filled plastic bag and emailed it to another real estate agent. The image was accompanied by Mandarin phrases that literally translate to “cannot see the light,” but are more often used to indicate “shady.”
The guy then transferred the money into his account and, as agreed, handed the developer a check. A few days later, the purchaser’s ex-wife notified the guy that the purchaser was an unsolved bankrupt who ran illegal gambling dens in Geylang. The ex-wife demanded that the transaction be declared null and invalid, and that the money be returned.
The property agent did so despite knowing the money was not legal and failed to report. For doing so, he can be fined up to $250,000 and jailed up to 3 years.