SINGAPORE: A 27-year-old woman who travelled to London to collect fake jewellery and then claim Value-Added-Tax (VAT) refunds from the UK was sentenced to 3 years and 8 months’ jail.
Nuradilah Rohop was found guilty of several offences on Tuesday (Apr 1), including conspiring with a man to launder refunds totalling €23,955 (S$34,914).
The Singaporean was recruited by a co-accused identified as Alan Yeo sometime in December 2020, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said in a news release on Wednesday
Returning to Singapore with the refunded amount, she failed to declare that she was carrying physical currency exceeding the prescribed amount. She then delivered the VAT refunds of €23,955 to Alan.
She was also convicted of one count of consumption of a specified drug, two counts of unauthorised access to computer material and one count of unauthorised disclosure of access code under the Computer Misuse Act.
“Laundering of proceeds from criminal activities and claiming tax refunds from overseas authorities through fraudulent means are serious offences,” SPF said.
“To avoid being implicated in such criminal activities, members of the public should reject dubious job offers to travel for the purpose of claiming sales tax refunds from overseas authorities.”
The police also said that it is a statutory requirement to declare the physical movement of currency exceeding S$20,000 into or out of Singapore.
Those found guilty of laundering under Section 47(1)(c) of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act may be fined up to S$500,000, jailed for up to 10 years, or both.
The penalty for breaching cash declaration laws under Section 48C(2) of the Act carries a fine of up to S$50,000, up to three year’s jail, or both.
