"War on Money Laundering"... Singapore Seizes 6 Trillion Won in Illegal Funds Over 5 Years

7% Returned to Victims... 17% Confiscated

The Singapore government, which has been waging a war against financial crimes such as money laundering, has seized over 6 trillion won worth of illegal funds in the past five years.

According to major foreign media including Bloomberg on the 26th, the Singapore government announced that from 2019 to the first half of this year, it has confiscated illegal funds related to crimes and money laundering amounting to approximately 6 billion Singapore dollars (about 6.1493 trillion won).

Of this, about 7%, or 416 million Singapore dollars, was returned to victims, and 1 billion Singapore dollars was confiscated by the government. Most of the remaining funds are currently under investigation or related to litigation.

The Singapore financial authorities pointed out in a report that money laundering activities have become increasingly sophisticated, and massive illegal funds crossing borders are causing significant damage. The authorities emphasized that "even the strongest preventive and asset recovery measures can be evaded by creative criminals," and pledged to continuously strengthen regulations to prevent financial crimes.

The Singapore government has been intensifying crackdowns on illegal criminal funds recently, including uncovering large-scale money laundering amounting to 3 billion Singapore dollars last year.

Lawrence Wong, Prime Minister of Singapore, stated at the opening ceremony of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary meeting held in Singapore on the same day, "As an international financial hub, we recognize the high risks of money laundering and terrorist financing," adding, "We will respond to these risks and protect Singapore’s reputation as a trusted financial center."