Cash, cars and homes seized in $735m Singapore anti-money laundering raids
Cash, cars and homes seized in $735m Singapore anti-money laundering raids
- Published3 hours ago
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![A Rolls-Royce and Bentley were seized.](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/12FFE/production/_130822877_28_20230816_10_foreign_nationals_offences_forgery_money_launder_est_1_bil_assets.png)
By Annabelle Liang
Business reporter
Singapore police have seized about S$1bn ($735m; £578m) – including luxury homes, cars and watches – in one of its biggest anti-money laundering probes.
Gold bars, designer handbags, wine and S$23m in cash were among the items seized in the raids.
Police arrested ten people in the operation, all of whom held foreign passports.
Raids of this size are rare in Singapore, which has one of the lowest crime rates in the world.
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The Singapore Police Force said in a statement that simultaneous raids were held across the city-state on Tuesday.
It added that 94 homes, including houses in some of the country’s most sought after areas, were seized, along with 50 vehicles.
![Cash seized by Singapore police.](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/1538A/production/_130822968_8_20230816_10_foreign_nationals_offences_forgery_money_launder_est_1_bil_assets.png)
Ten people, aged between 31 and 44, were arrested for alleged money laundering and forgery offences. Police said that those arrested had passports from China, Cambodia, Turkey and Vanuatu.
The group was “suspected to be involved in laundering the proceeds of crime from their overseas organised crime activities including scams and online gambling,” according to the police.