内政部政务部长孙雪玲：将公布反洗钱机制，确保新加坡不被用作洗钱渠道

2024年7月2日，新加坡内政部政务部长孙雪玲代表内政部长在国会答复裕廊集选区议员陈有明医生、阿裕尼集选区议员毕丹星有关跨部门委员会审查新加坡反洗钱立法制度考虑的事项问题。

以下内容为新加坡眼根据国会英文资料翻译整理：

陈有明医生（裕廊集选区议员）询问内政部长：

(a) 为审查新加坡反洗钱制度而设立的跨部门委员会（IMC）在提议收紧任何法规和执法措施以防止罪犯利用时，是否会考虑和研究潜在罪犯如何计算他们自己被抓获的潜在概率?现有判刑先例的范围?

(b) 跨部门委员会是否会考虑建议加强侦查、调查和量刑，以维护新加坡作为受尊重的金融中心的地位?

孙雪玲（内政部政务部长，代表内政部长）：在跨部门委员会（IMC）的审查中，IMC确实会考虑犯罪分子可能试图利用我们的系统的日益复杂的方式，并提出建议，以确保我们的反洗钱制度在预防、监测和执法方面仍然有效。跨部门委员会（IMC）将在今年第四季公布其全部调查结果和建议。至于法律规定的处罚是否充分，内政部（MHA）会定期审查，最近一次是在 2023 年。

议长先生：有请陈有明医生

陈有明医生（裕廊集选区议员）：感谢国务部长的回答，我还有一个关于这个话题的补充问题。跨部门委员会（IMC）在审议时，是否也会研究洗钱与有组织犯罪（包括有组织网络犯罪）之间的联系是否日益密切？

我之所以提出这个问题，是因为有媒体报道说，一名外国人在新加坡因引渡请求而被捕。据媒体报道，这名外国人面临的指控不仅包括洗钱，还包括运行与网络犯罪有关的大规模恶意软件和僵尸网络。

如果洗钱与有组织犯罪和其他形式的犯罪（包括网络犯罪）之间出现了联系，跨部门委员会（IMC）是否会考虑充分利用新加坡的政策杠杆，包括我们今天对有组织犯罪所采取的政策杠杆？

孙雪玲（内政部政务部长，代表内政部长）：感谢这位议员的补充提问。事实上，洗钱和洗钱者使用的方法已经变得越来越复杂。他们采用多层流程来隐藏踪迹。

显然，随着数字化程度的提高，资产类别的不同，区分合法和非法资金流动变得越来越困难。在我之前的回答中，我提到我们正在采取“整体政府”（whole-of-Government）的方式来加强我们的监测和感知能力。这将包括研究网络犯罪领域。因此，我希望这有助于回答议员的问题。

议长先生：有请毕丹星先生。

毕丹星（阿裕尼集选区议员）：谢谢议长。我只想问一下政务部长。最近，特别是在过去两年里，媒体词汇中出现了一个词--“借新加坡洗白”（Singapore-washing）。

我能否确认，跨部门委员会是否也将研究世界各地的个人和媒体机构所声称的新加坡可能被用作洗钱渠道的各种情况和方面？

孙雪玲（内政部政务部长，代表内政部长）：我感谢这位议员的提问。事实上，跨部门委员会正在开展严格的工作，以确保新加坡的公司结构不会被洗钱者滥用。

其次，我们还与金融机构紧密合作，确保他们加强管控，对客户背景进行尽职调查，以确定其资金来源。

我之前还提到了生态系统中的其他把关人，如房地产中介、律师、宝石和贵金属交易商以及企业服务提供商。

所有这些行动将有助于我们更好地防范潜在的洗钱者试图通过新加坡的生态系统洗钱。

以下是英文质询内容：

Dr Tan Wu Mengaskedthe Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether the Inter-Ministerial Committee established to review Singapore's anti-money laundering regime will consider and study how potential offenders calculate (i) their own potential probability of being caught, (ii) the range of existing sentencing precedents, when proposing any tightening of regulations and enforcements to prevent exploitation by criminals; and (b) whether the Committee will consider recommending the enhancement of detection, investigation and sentencing to safeguard Singapore's stature as a respected financial centre.

The Minister of State for Home Affairs (Ms Sun Xueling) (for the Minister for Home Affairs): In the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) review, the IMC will indeed consider the increasingly sophisticated ways by which criminals may seek to exploit our systems and make recommendations to ensure that our anti-money laundering regime remains effective in preventing, detecting and enforcing against such. The IMC will share its full findings and recommendations in the fourth quarter of this year. As for the adequacy of the penalties prescribed in the law, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) regularly reviews such, the last time being just recently in 2023.

Mr Speaker: Dr Tan Wu Meng.

Dr Tan Wu Meng (Jurong):I thank the Minister of State for her answer and I have got a further supplementary question on this topic. Will the IMC in its deliberations also look at whether there is an increasing nexus of money laundering with organised crime, including organised cybercrime?

I raise this because there were media reports of a foreign national arrested in Singapore, following an extradition request. It was reported in the media that this foreign national faced charges, not just of money laundering, but also running a large-scale malware and botnet, relating to cybercrime.

And if there is an emerging nexus between money laundering and organised crime and other forms of crime, including cybercrime, will the IMC look at applying the full force of Singapore's policy levers, including the ones we apply to organised crime, today?

Ms Sun Xueling:I thank the Member for his supplementary question. Indeed, money laundering and the methods employed by money launderers have become increasingly sophisticated. They undertake multiple layering processes to hide their tracks.

And obviously, with greater digitalisation, different categories of assets, it is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate between legitimate and illicit fund flows. Earlier in my response, I had mentioned that we are taking a whole-of-Government approach to strengthen our monitoring and sense-making capabilities. This would include looking into areas of cybercrime. So, I hope that helps address the Member's question.

Mr Speaker: Mr Pritam Singh.

Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied):Thank you, Mr Speaker. Just a question for the Minister of State. Lately, over the last two years, in particular, there has been a term that is floating in the media lexicon– "Singapore-washing".

Can I confirm whether the IMC will also be looking at the various permutations and aspects of some of the claims made by individuals and media organisations worldwide about how Singapore is potentially used as a conduit for such money laundering?

Ms Sun Xueling: I thank the Member for his question. Indeed, the IMC is undertaking rigorous work to ensure that corporate structures in Singapore are not being abused by money launderers.

Secondly, we are also working closely with our financial institutions to make sure that they enhance their controls, they do their due diligence on their customers' backgrounds to be able to identify the sources of their funds.

I also earlier mentioned other gatekeepers in the system, such as real estate agents, lawyers, precious stones and metals' dealers and corporate service providers.

All these actions would help us better guard against potential money launderers trying to launder their monies through Singapore's ecosystem.