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SINGAPORE: Four men, aged 35 to 63, were charged on Wednesday (June 26) over their alleged involvement in cheating and money laundering offences related to S$1.6 million in investment fraud.
They are Timothy Solomon Patrick, 35, Daniel Lars Stevenson, 39, Kamaraj Gopal Krishnan, 53, and Patrick Lourdasamy, 63.
The police said on June 25 that in February 2020, the Commercial Affairs Department began investigations against three business entities after receiving information that their bank accounts in Singapore had received fraudulent remittances of around $1.6 million from overseas victims of an investment fraud from November 2018 to October 2019.
Another business was subsequently found to have received about $64,000 from the same victims in October 2019.
These businesses were sole proprietorships allegedly set up in Singapore by Stevenson, Kamaraj and Lourdasamy.
Investigations revealed that between 2018 and 2019, the three men were separately introduced to an unidentified individual in Singapore by Solomon to be part of a consultancy business, said the police.
As part of the business, the three men allegedly set up their sole proprietorships and opened bank accounts to receive and withdraw money from purported clients.
Solomon allegedly acted as an intermediary, relaying instructions from the unidentified individual to the three men, who would then keep a portion of the money they received, and give the balance to Solomon.
Investigations also showed that Solomon and Stevenson allegedly conspired to cheat a bank by submitting a fake invoice, payment voucher and quotation, when asked by the bank about a withdrawal of $279,740 from the account.
Solomon faces one count of abetment to commit money laundering, one count of abetment to cheat a bank, and two counts of money laundering.
Stevenson faces one count of abetment each to commit money laundering and to cheat a bank.
Kamaraj was charged with two counts of money laundering, and Lourdasamy was charged with one count of money laundering.
All four men gave no indication of plea when they were charged.
Their cases were adjourned to July 31.
Those convicted of money laundering can be jailed for up to three years, fined up to $150,000, or both. - The Straits Times/ANN
