SINGAPORE Singapore has seized S$6 billion (US$4.4 billion or RM20.86 billion) linked to criminal and money-laundering activities over the past five years, of which about half of these illicit assets were from last year’s record scandal.

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 towards recovering illicit assets. 

“Even the most robust preventive and asset recovery measures can be circumvented by determined and creative criminals,” the report stated, adding that 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.

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. 

  - Bloomberg