11 hours ago
2 men charged after company allegedly received US$45 million without a payment service licence
SINGAPORE: Two men were charged on Thursday (Jun 26) after their company's corporate bank accounts allegedly received nearly US$45 million in funds from overseas.
Patrick Lee Paik Cheng, 65, is the director of the company, Tupt, while his co-accused, Dinh Tien Dat, 28, was said to be in a position to influence the conduct of Tupt.
According to a Bizfile record, Tupt is a company located at Bencoolen Street which operates a wholesale business on a fee or commission basis.
Lee, a Malaysian and Dinh, a Vietnamese, were each handed a charge under the Payment Services Act.
The police said in a press release on Wednesday that neither the men nor their company had a licence to carry out a business that provided a payment service in Singapore. Both men and the company were not considered exempted service providers.
It said that investigations by the Commercial Affairs Department revealed that the funds were received from outside Singapore on 58 occasions.
Between Jul 28, 2020 and Apr 29, 2022, US$44,951,709.70 was received in 26 transactions to an RHB bank account and 32 transactions to a Standard Chartered bank account, court documents stated. Both bank accounts allegedly belonged to Tupt.
Lee's case was adjourned for him to seek legal advice. He will next return to court on Jul 24.
Meanwhile, Dinh has indicated his intention to plead guilty. His hearing has been fixed for Aug 7.
The police said in the press release that they will not hesitate to act against any individual or entity involved in providing unlicensed cross-border money transfer services.
"Members of the public are strongly advised to use financial institutions or payment service providers licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore when conducting cross-border money transfers.
"The police would like to caution against engaging in unlicensed payment service activities, as unlicensed payment service providers are not regulated and are not subjected to stringent anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing measures," it added.
