Toggle navigation
One or more in $2.8b money laundering case may be linked to family offices given tax incentives
The number of single-family offices awarded tax incentives by the Monetary Authority of Singapore was 1,100 as at the end of 2022, up from 700 in 2021. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
Angela Tan
Senior Correspondent
UPDATED
39 MINS AGO
FacebookWhatsApp
SINGAPORE – One or more of the accused in a recent money laundering case may have been linked to single-family offices (SFOs) that had been awarded tax incentives by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), said Minister of State for Trade and Industry Alvin Tan.
Speaking in Parliament on behalf of Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong, Mr Tan said the financial regulator was reviewing its internal incentive administration processes for SFOs, and will tighten them where necessary.
In addition, the regulator is conducting “detailed supervisory reviews and inspections of the financial institutions with a major nexus to the case”. It will also take a critical look at how the suspects were able to access financial services in Singapore.
In August, the
Singapore police arrested and charged 10 people and seized close to $1 billion in assets, including luxury properties, gold bars, designer handbags, cash, crypto assets and cars.
To date, the value of assets seized or issued with prohibition of disposal orders has swelled to more than $2.8 billion, making it one of the world’s largest money laundering cases.
Some of the suspects have been accused of presenting forged documents to banks.
Mr Tan said MAS would assess whether the banks had upheld robust anti-money laundering practices as well as practices to counter the financing of terrorism.