In a money-laundering incident from 2023, officials in Singapore have prosecuted two former bank managers.  The case was about the secret transfer of $3 billion in illegal money, part of which came from gambling activities in other countries.

 Two former bank managers were charged on August 15 for their alleged roles in Singapore's biggest money-laundering case.

 Wang Qiming from Citibank and Liu Kai from Julius Baer were the first people in the financial world to be linked to the scandal.

 A other individual, who drove a businessman involved in the case, was also charged with a crime.  Su Binghai, the businessman, has left the area.  We don't know where he is.

 Ten people are in jail, and others are on the run.
 So far, ten persons have been found guilty of laundering billions of dollars from offences including illicit online gambling.

 Sixteen Singapore banks handled a total of S$3 billion (£1.764 billion/€2 billion/$2.3 billion) in dirty money.  They also took about S$1 billion in cash and property, such as expensive cars, jewellery, purses, and watches.

 So far, all of the people who have been found guilty have been Chinese citizens from the Fujian province.  In this case, sentences vary from 13 to 17 months in jail.

 In the case, authorities are still looking for at least 17 individuals who are still on the run.

 The financial system in Singapore was hacked.
 The scandal hurt Singapore's reputation as a clean financial place with robust anti-money laundering (AML) laws.

 The city-state is part of the Financial Action Task Force, which keeps an eye on countries for signs of money laundering.  It is one of the co-chairs of FATF's Policy Development Group, which helps set norms for other markets.  Singapore is also part of the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering.  It also works with international groups that fight financial crime, like the Egmont Group and Interpol.

 The finance ministry's 2024 Money-Laundering Risk Assessment says that Singapore is still at high risk of "foreign fraud, especially cyber-enabled fraud."

 The paper says, "This threat has gotten worse because of advances in digitalisation."  Online portals "let syndicates... cross borders to clean up their dirty money."

 The report says, "Another major ML threat to Singapore comes from organised crime from other countries, especially illegal online gambling."  In the 2023 case, it says, "several of the accused" got money from "illegal online gambling from foreign organised criminal groups."

 Making casino rules stricter
 The Anti Money Laundering and Other Matters Bill, which went into effect on August 6, made Singapore's financial controls stricter.  The Casino Control Act was changed so that gaming companies can share consumer information more easily to find suspicious transactions.

 The measure also changes the rules for customer due diligence (CDD) checks to help find and stop financial crimes.

 Before, those checks were done when customers made cash transactions of S$10,000 or more or put S$5,000 or more into an account.  The limit for both cash transactions and deposits has now been cut to S$4,000.

 Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands are two multibillion-dollar casino resorts in Singapore.

 Criminals still want to go to Singapore
 Criminals are drawn to Singapore because it is known as a banking centre that the rest of the world trusts.

 According to a June assessment from the Singapore Monetary Authority, "Singapore is inevitably exposed to (transnational money-laundering) threats."  “Criminal syndicates and professional criminals are targeting it to… launder money that comes from illegal activities abroad.”