Daily roundup: Man arrested for slashing ex-girlfriend's neck with knife at Malaysian university — and other top stories today, World News
1. Man arrested for slashing ex-girlfriend's neck with knife at Malaysian university
A 21-year-old man was arrested in Malaysia for slashing his ex-girlfriend on the neck with a knife at the Taylor's University campus in Selangor on Monday (July 14)... » READ MORE
2. 'There's no one whose kin doesn't die': Jet Li reveals his thoughts on death, why he doesn't attend funerals, daughter being suicidal
Jet Li, who was frequently plagued by rumours of his own demise, got candid about death in an interview recently... » READ MORE
3. Asia's 50 Best Bars 2025: 5 Singapore bars make the list, a drop from last year's 11
The results of Asia's 50 Best Bars 2025 are out, and while several of our local bars have done us proud once again, the number of Singapore-based establishments on the list this year has dropped compared to last year's... » READ MORE
4. 'A lesson learnt': Singaporean woman fractures rib while attempting viral Chongqing motorcycle trend
It sounds romantic — a rendezvous with a handsome man on a motorcycle, with the splendour of Chongqing's night skyline in the background... » READ MORE
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CNA
6 hours ago
- CNA
Billion-dollar money laundering case: 4 law firms linked to seized properties named, 2 more identified and reprimanded
SINGAPORE: Four law firms that breached their anti-money laundering obligations over the purchase of properties in the S$3 billion (US$2.2 billion) money laundering case have been named, following the conclusion of investigations into their cases. In an update on Friday (Aug 1), the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) said it had completed the regulatory action related to the four law firms - Anthony Law Corporation, Fortis Law Corporation, Legal Solutions LLC and Malkin & Maxwell LLP. As such, MinLaw added it was now able to furnish more details on their conveyancing of the real estate properties seized as part of the anti-money laundering operation in August 2023. Conveyancing refers to the legal process of transferring the ownership of a property from one person to another. Their penalties were previously made known on Jul 15, but MinLaw then did not name the four firms. It then said 24 law practices were involved in investigations by Singapore's director of legal services (DLS) Sarala Kumari Subramaniam, supported by MinLaw, and 11 of the probes had been concluded. As of Jul 31, 13 of the 24 law practices had been dealt with, the ministry said on Friday. Two more law firms - William Poh & Louis Lim, now known as Louis Lim & Partners, and Templars Law LLC were also named, as inquiries and regulatory action had concluded, it added. With 13 of the probes having concluded, MinLaw also identified five lawyers involved in the conveyancing of the seized real estate properties. They are: Mr Tan Chau Chuang, Mr Andrew Wong Wei Kiat, Mr Tan Tse Chia Patrick, Mr Ee Tian Huat Patrick and Mr Poh Tian Hock William. All have been referred to the Law Society to "consider if there are grounds for further professional disciplinary action against these lawyers". MinLaw previously said on Jul 15 that one lawyer had been referred to the Law Society for disciplinary action, without naming the individual. While a Law Society spokesperson then confirmed that the lawyer had been referred to it for disciplinary action, it was unable to reveal the identities of those involved. "As the referral relates to disciplinary matters, such proceedings are confidential," it then said. ENFORCEMENT ACTION TAKEN All law practices and lawyers are subject to anti-money laundering obligations under the Legal Profession Act 1966. These include performing an adequate analysis of the risks of money laundering in relation to each client and performing customer due diligence measures that are in line with a client's risk profile. Lawyers and law firms also have to file a suspicious transaction report with the police if they have reasonable grounds to suspect that a client might be engaged in money laundering. Expanding on the enforcement action taken, the ministry said Anthony Law Corporation had acted for nine clients to convey 25 properties valued at around S$135 million in total. According to MinLaw, its breaches included inadequate scrutiny of the transactions, which was not commensurate with the clients' and transactions' money laundering risks. "Anthony Law Corporation did not corroborate or verify the clients' explanations for why the transactions were being funded by seemingly unrelated third parties, even though these were red flags," it said. The firm also failed to comply with documentation requirements. If a law practice or lawyer decides to continue to act for the client despite suspicions of money laundering, they must substantiate and document the reasons for this and adopt commensurate risk mitigation measures, including enhanced customer due diligence and monitoring measures. However, while Anthony Law retained and continued to undertake transactions for some of these clients despite filing suspicious transaction reports against them, it did not substantiate or document its reasons for why it had considered it appropriate to do so, said MinLaw. The firm was ordered to pay a financial penalty of S$100,000. One of its lawyers, Mr Tan Chau Chuang, has since been referred to the Law Society. Fortis Law Corporation acted for 16 clients to convey 55 properties valued at around S$398.7 million in total. The firm did not conduct checks to verify the clients' claims that the payments for the transactions were indeed from legitimate remittance companies, said MinLaw. As a result, it was handed a financial penalty of S$30,000 and two lawyers - Mr Wong and Mr Tan Tse Chia Patrick - were referred to the Law Society. Mr Wong is no longer practising with Fortis Law. Both Anthony Law and Fortis Law have paid the financial penalty, MinLaw noted. Legal Solutions LLC, the third firm to receive a financial penalty, acted for two clients to convey 20 properties valued at around S$117 million in total. 'It did not adequately document the details of its analysis of the clients' money-laundering risks,' said the ministry. "It also did not perform all the required enhanced customer due diligence measures after it filed a suspicious transaction report, such as documenting its internal discussions on, and reasons for, retaining the clients despite filing the suspicious transaction report." Legal Solutions has been ordered by Ms Subramaniam to pay a financial penalty of S$70,000, while a lawyer, Mr Ee, has been referred to the Law Society. He no longer practices at the firm. Meanwhile, Malkin & Maxwell LLP has been reprimanded to remind it to be mindful of its anti-money laundering obligations and responsibilities. MinLaw said it was taken into consideration that the firm had acted for one client to convey one property valued at around S$40 million. Inquiries revealed that while Malkin & Maxwell conducted checks into the client's source of funds, its independent checks were "not sufficiently in-depth". Instead, it relied unduly on checks that it assumed third parties would have done on its client. William Poh & Louis Lim and Templars Law LLC were also reprimanded by Ms Subramaniam to remind them to be mindful of their anti-money laundering obligations and responsibilities. Mr Poh, a lawyer who previously worked at William Poh & Louis Lim before joining Templars Law, has been referred to the Law Society. According to MinLaw, Mr Poh was the managing partner and sole partner-in-charge of conveyancing matters at William Poh & Louis Lim until around May 2023. During his time at the firm, he commenced transactions for six clients to convey 32 properties valued at around S$246.7 million in total. Twenty-six of those property transactions concluded while Mr Poh was practising with William Poh & Louis Lim, said MinLaw. The lawyer later left the firm in or around May 2023 to join Templars Law, and his previous firm amended its name to Louis Lim & Partners after his departure. Mr Poh brought the remaining six property transactions to Templars Law and concluded the transactions soon after in June 2023, said MinLaw. Some of the breaches observed by Ms Subramaniam included not obtaining certain documents as part of customer due diligence, not adequately scrutinising the clients' and transactions' money-laundering risks and not applying commensurate risk mitigation measures. HOW REFERRALS TO THE LAW SOCIETY ARE HANDLED A lawyer who breaches his or her anti-money laundering obligations is liable, among other things, to face disciplinary proceedings. 'Lawyers whom the director of legal services has referred to the Law Society will be subject to the disciplinary proceedings process and framework in the Legal Profession Act,' said MinLaw. Under this framework, each lawyer's case will undergo further fact-finding by the relevant committee or tribunal to assess if there have been breaches, and if so, the lawyer's individual culpability and any appropriate disciplinary action and penalties against him or her. This disciplinary process is separate from the director of legal services' inquiries and enforcement actions against the law practices. 'We urge the public to refrain from speculating or sharing unverified information while the process is ongoing,' said MinLaw. The billion-dollar money-laundering case involved millions of dollars earned over the years from an illicit gambling ring with Southeast Asian bases, and that was aimed at punters in China. Investigations into the transnational case date back to 2021 and culminated in islandwide police raids in August 2023. Singapore police seized luxury cars, watches, jewellery, designer goods, cryptocurrency and cash. More than 150 properties were also seized, including homes in Singapore's most upmarket neighbourhoods. The fees that Anthony Law, Fortis Law, Legal Solutions, Malkin & Maxwell, William Poh & Louis Lim and Templars Law collected in total from acting for their clients for these property transactions ranged from S$15,000 to around S$170,000, said MinLaw. "In imposing the financial penalties, alongside other regulatory measures that include following up with these law practices on their remedial measures to strengthen compliance with anti-money laundering obligations, the DLS aims to ensure that law practices in Singapore observe their anti-money laundering obligations and keep Singapore a clean and money-laundering-free business- and financial-hub," it added.
CNA
7 hours ago
- CNA
Choice to name groups attacking Singapore based on threat: Shanmugam
Singapore's coordinating minister for national security says details on alleged culprits behind cyberattacks are released based on the threat they pose. Mr K Shanmugam was answering a question on why authorities named UNC3886 as the group behind the ongoing cyberattack on Singapore's critical infrastructure. Nicolas Ng reports.
Straits Times
10 hours ago
- Straits Times
Jail for woman linked to ruse involving iPhones bought with bank card details belonging to others
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Yong Huo Ying, 25, was ordered to spend a year, five months and two weeks behind bars. SINGAPORE - A Malaysian woman who helped to sell iPhones that were bought using bank card details belonging to others was given a jail sentence on Aug 1. Yong Huo Ying, 25, was ordered to spend a year, five months and two weeks behind bars after she pleaded guilty to multiple charges including four counts of cheating. Deputy Public Prosecutor Lewis Tan told the court that unknown individuals in a syndicate had recruited Yong and her accomplice, Quek Jian Qing, 21, who is also a Malaysian, in November 2024. The pair were told to travel to Singapore and buy multiple iPhones by using the 'Apple Pay' application installed on a mobile phone that would be provided to them. The application would show a virtual credit or debit card which could be used to make contactless payments. These card details belonged to other individuals. Court documents did not disclose how the syndicate got hold of such information. After buying the iPhones, Quek and Yong were tasked to sell the devices in Singapore. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Tech Reporting suspected advanced cyber attacks will provide a defence framework: Shanmugam Singapore Tanjong Katong sinkhole: Road will progressively open to motorists from Aug 2 noon World Trump modifies reciprocal tariffs ahead of deadline; rate on Singapore remains at 10% Business Singapore's US tariff rate stays at 10%, but the Republic is not out of the woods yet Singapore Thundery showers expected on most days in first half of August Singapore Synapxe chief executive, MND deputy secretary to become new perm secs from Sept 1 Singapore 5 women face capital charges after they were allegedly found with nearly 27kg of cocaine in S'pore Business Sumo Salad had valid insurance coverage for work injury claims: MOM They then had to hand over the proceeds to a syndicate member, known only as 'MK', in Malaysia. Quek and Yong were each promised up to RM3,000 (S$910) for their roles in the ruse. Quek was in Malaysia on Nov 7, 2024 when MK handed him a Samsung mobile phone that had 'Apple Pay' pre-installed. Quek and Yong met up in Malaysia the next day, and they took Quek's car to Singapore via the Woodlands Checkpoint. The DPP said: 'Quek's primary role was to purchase the iPhones using the 'Apple Pay' application... while Yong's primary role was to sell the iPhones purchased by Quek.' Later that day, Quek bought an iPhone worth $1,899 at an Apple store at Marina Bay Sands and used the app to pay for it. A 39-year-old Singaporean woman's credit card details were linked to the platform, and he made the purchase without the victim's consent. The woman, identified in court documents as A1, received an SMS alert from her bank about the transaction, and she lodged a police report soon after. Using the credit card details of other victims in the 'Apple Pay' app, Quek went to other places that same day, including an Apple store in Orchard Road, and bought six more iPhones. The seven iPhones were worth more than $13,000 in total. Yong later sold two of the iPhones at a shop in Marine Parade, while Quek sold five of them. Together, they sold the seven iPhones for $1,520 each and conspired to transfer some of the sale proceeds totalling $3,040 to a Singapore bank account provided by the syndicate. The DPP told the court: 'But for the prompt intervention of the local enforcement authorities who arrested Quek and Yong as they attempted to leave Singapore for Malaysia on the same night, (the pair) would have been able to leave Singapore with the remaining proceeds – $7,600 in cash.' On Aug 1, the prosecutor urged the court to sentence Yong to at least a year, five months and two weeks' jail. He said that Yong did not buy or attempt to buy any iPhones. The syndicate also did not provide her with any devices to make such purchases, the court heard. Quek was sentenced to three years and 10 days' jail in May.
