Written Reply to Parliamentary Questions on Measures Against Money-Laundering Activities

Questions:

Miss Rachel Ong: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what are the current measures to track and prevent money-laundering activities through the purchase of high-end, high-value retail and auction items; and (b) in view of the recent money-laundering crackdown by the Singapore Police Force, what additional measures will be set in place to stem future money-laundering activities in these sectors.

Mr Don Wee : To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) how does the Ministry work with the Ministry of Home Affairs to deter and identify fraudulent applications for employment passes and work permits; and (b) how does the Ministry work with foreign governments and institutions to verify the information provided by applicants.

Mr Don Wee: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs what measures are in place to detect money laundering through movements of illegal funds using high value items such as luxury goods, jewellery, art and vehicles.

Mr Neil Parekh Nimil Rajnikant : To ask the Minister for Home Affairs what is currently being done to stop the use of landed homes in Sentosa Cove and non-traditional assets like golf club memberships and yachts from being used to further money laundering.

Mr Yip Hon Weng : To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether real estate agents licensed by the Council for Estate Agencies are trained to identify and report suspicious property transactions; (b) what checks are in place to ensure that Singapore's property market is not being targeted or misused for money laundering activities; and (c) how does the Ministry include other industry professionals like lawyers and accountants in preventing money laundering through property transactions.

Mr Neil Parekh Nimil Rajnikant : To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) since 1 January 2016, how many applications from foreigners have been received by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) to purchase landed properties in Sentosa Cove; (b) how many of these applications have not been approved; and (c) what additional steps can be taken by SLA to prevent foreign citizens with criminal intent to conduct cross-border organised crimes from purchasing landed properties in Sentosa Cove.

Miss Rachel Ong : To ask the Minister for Home Affairs whether there are plans to set up a multi-ministry anti-money laundering task force to coordinate and strengthen the monitoring and detection of suspicious activities related to money laundering.

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs in each of the last three years (a) how many suspicious transaction reports (STRs) were filed with regard to property transactions; (b) how many of such property transactions were later found to be involved in money laundering (ML) or terrorism financing (TF) activities; and (c) how many individuals were prosecuted for a failure to file a STR when they knew or had reason to suspect that any property may have been connected to ML or TF activities.

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what are the tools and databases which the Council for Estate Agencies provides to estate agents (EAs) and real estate salespersons (RESs) to aid them in conducting Customer Due Diligence on their clients; (b) how does CEA make EAs and RESs aware of these tools and databases, if any; and (c) whether EAs and RESs actively use them.

Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether individuals entering Singapore are checked against a list of suspicious individuals at their time of entry; and (b) how are individuals using passports from multiple countries or false identities being prevented from entering Singapore.

Answer:

Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister for Communications and Information & Second Minister for Home Affairs:

1. Many Members have filed queries on the recent anti-money laundering operations conducted by the Police and Singapore’s anti-money laundering framework. The queries cover a wide range of issues across several Ministries. The Ministry of Home Affairs, together with various other Ministries, will respond to the queries comprehensively in a Ministerial Statement in October.