Employees of the store at People's Park Complex sold valuables worth over S$313,000 in total, and over $140,000 of it was later traced to scam victims. - LIANHE ZAOBAO
SINGAPORE: In a case involving the first prosecution under a new law aimed at addressing risks relating to money laundering, a business called Kim Heng Jewellers and Goldsmiths was fined $35,000 on Tuesday (Nov 19).
Two employees of the store, located at People’s Park Complex in Park Road, sold valuables worth more than $313,000 in total to customers, and over $140,000 of that amount was later traced to two Singaporean victims of a malware scam.
The women, who were working for the store at the time, had processed the payments without conducting the necessary checks, despite having reasons to suspect that the funds were linked to money laundering activities.
The business was convicted of one charge, involving more than $173,000, under the Precious Stones and Precious Metals (Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing) Act.
Two other similar charges linked to the remaining amount were considered during sentencing.
In October 2019, the Ministry of Law held a briefing for dealers regulated under the Act, including the store, and attendees were informed of the need to conduct customer due diligence when there is suspicion of money laundering.
Kim Heng Jewellers and Goldsmiths’ part-time accountant attended the briefing and shared with the owner and other employees what she had learnt.
She also shared the materials obtained from the briefing with the owner, Henry Ho, who passed them to his employees.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Thaddeus Tan told the court: “However, when doing so, Henry only asked his employees to look through the materials, without further instructions. As a result, the... employees only flipped through the materials, without studying them in depth.
“Despite knowing this, Henry did not conduct any follow-up, neither was any training provided to the... employees. (He) merely verbally instructed his employees to take down the particulars of customers entering into cash transactions worth $20,000 and above.”
On Sept 15, 2023, an elderly woman, who was wearing a mask, entered the shop, and one of the employees, Jennifer Kang, attended to her.
The customer, identified in court documents as AS1, told Ms Kang that she wanted to buy gold on behalf of her “son”, AS2.
AS1 then said that she wanted to buy a gold chain worth $28,000, and told Ms Kang that AS2 would pay via the PayNow application.
When Kang processed the payment, she noticed that the payor on the application was Globe Eximport, linked to a compromised corporate account.
Neither she nor her colleagues conducted the necessary checks, despite having reasons to suspect that the customer was trying to launder money by buying the chain.
According to court documents, such checks included verifying the customer’s identity using reliable sources, such as an identity card or a passport.
The $28,000 was later traced to a 53-year-old male victim of a malware scam.
On Sept 16 the same year, AS2 contacted Kang via WhatsApp, saying that he wished to buy more valuables and that AS1 would be collecting them.
As Kang was not working that day, she referred him to her colleague, Sheila Lo.
AS1 went to the shop later that day and confirmed that she wanted to buy multiple gold chains and a pendant worth more than $173,000 in total, with AS2 settling the payment.
Lo processed the payment without conducting the necessary checks.
AS2 contacted Kang on Oct 2 that year, and she later processed his payment for a gold bar and a gold chain worth more than $112,000 in total without doing the checks.
This amount was later traced to a 51-year-old female victim of a malware scam.
The next day, AS2 contacted Kang again to purchase even more gold.
The DPP said: “This time, however, when AS1 went to collect the purchased items, Henry decided to ask her for her ID. AS1 responded that she had to use the restroom and left the shop without returning. The identities of AS1 and AS2 have not been established to date.”
The offences came to light after the two malware scam victims alerted the police, and Kim Heng Jewellers and Goldsmiths was charged in court in 2024. - The Straits Times/ANN
