$3b money laundering case: MinLaw acts against 4 law firms and 1 lawyer over seized properties
Source: Straits Times
Article Date: 16 Jul 2025
Author: Samuel Devaraj
The Director of Legal Services, a department under MinLaw, conducted investigations into 24 law practices, and 11 of the probes have been concluded.
The Ministry of Law (MinLaw) has taken four law firms and one lawyer to task for anti-money laundering breaches over the purchase of properties in the $3 billion money laundering case, with one of the practices receiving the maximum penalty of $100,000.
In a press release on July 15, MinLaw said it is supporting the Director of Legal Services (DLS) in conducting inquiries into the law practices that were involved in the conveyancing of the real estate seized in an anti-money laundering operation in August 2023.
It said the DLS conducted investigations into 24 law practices that were involved, and 11 of the probes have been concluded.
The DLS heads the Legal Services Regulatory Authority, which is a department under MinLaw that oversees the regulation of all law practice entities and the registration of foreign lawyers in Singapore.
The DLS has ordered two law practices to pay financial penalties of $30,000 and $100,000 respectively.
A third law practice was issued a statutory notice of the intention to order it to pay a financial penalty of $70,000. A final decision will be made after receiving and considering the firm’s written representations, if any, MinLaw said.
The ministry added that the DLS privately reprimanded a fourth law practice, and also referred one lawyer to the Law Society of Singapore for disciplinary action.
MinLaw did not name the four law practices and the lawyer that have received enforcement action in its press release. The Straits Times has contacted the ministry for more information.
The DLS has decided it will not be necessary to take further regulatory action against seven other law practices.
Said MinLaw: “The DLS is considering the inquiry findings for the remaining 13 law practices, and whether any lawyers concerned should be referred to the Law Society of Singapore for disciplinary action.”
Among its roles, the Law Society maintains the standards of conduct of the legal profession in Singapore.
MinLaw added that a law practice that breaches its anti-money laundering obligations can face regulatory control action against its licence.
In response to queries from ST, a MinLaw spokesperson said law practices found to have breached their anti-money laundering obligations under the Legal Profession Act may be given a warning, ordered to pay a penalty of up to $100,000, or have their law practice licence suspended or revoked.
A lawyer who breaches his or her anti-money laundering obligations can face disciplinary proceedings, which could result in monetary penalties, suspension from legal practice or disbarment.
Singapore’s largest case of money laundering involving $3 billion in cash and assets saw 10 foreigners arrested in multiple islandwide raids here on Aug 15, 2023.
The nine men and one woman, who were originally from Fujian, China, were jailed, deported and barred from re-entering Singapore.
MinLaw noted that all law practices and lawyers are subject to anti-money laundering obligations under the Legal Profession Act.
These obligations include analysing money laundering risks relating to each client and performing customer due diligence measures that are commensurate with the client’s risk profile.
A law practice or lawyer also must file a suspicious transaction report (STR) with the police if they suspect the client may be engaged in money laundering, MinLaw noted.
It added that if a law practice or lawyer decides to continue to act for the client despite these suspicions, it should substantiate and document the reasons for the decision. It must also adopt enhanced customer due diligence and monitoring measures.
MinLaw said law practices must also have internal anti-money laundering policies, procedures and controls that fulfil the regulatory requirements and are sufficiently robust.
The ministry said it issued a guidance note to the legal industry on June 23 to highlight the responsibilities of law practices and lawyers under their statutory anti-money laundering obligations.
The note covered areas including analysing client risk, identifying material red flags, establishing a client’s source of wealth and the timeline for filing an STR.
MinLaw said that while Singapore has a comprehensive anti-money laundering regime, the landscape is constantly changing as new money laundering risks and methods emerge.
It added: “Everyone has a role in ensuring that Singapore’s anti-money laundering systems continue to be robust, from the law enforcement agencies, to the service providers such as the financial institutions and law practices, to the general public.”
The law firms and lawyer were the latest to be dealt with in relation to the $3 billion money laundering case.
On July 4, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said nine financial institutions were given $27.45 million in composition penalties, and action was taken against 18 staff.
MAS said the financial institutions did not adequately check on customers’ sources of wealth, even though there were discrepancies in the documents they had provided.
Eight of the nine institutions did not adequately investigate suspicious transactions flagged by their own systems.
For the staff, breaches included failure to detect or adequately assess multiple deficiencies during the onboarding of higher-risk customers.
Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.
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