2024年5月8日，新加坡内政部长尚穆根在国会书面答复非选区议员梁文辉关于反洗钱法威慑作用的问题。
以下内容为新加坡眼根据国会英文资料翻译整理：
梁文辉（非选区议员）先生询问内政部长：
(a) 根据1992 年的《腐败、贩毒和其他严重犯罪（没收利益）法》规定的刑罚是否足以威慑个人参与洗钱活动?
(b) 如果不能，政府是否会考虑加强量刑制度?
尚穆根（内政部长）先生：根据1992年的《腐败、贩毒和其他严重犯罪（没收利益）法》（CDSA）规定，根据洗钱罪行的性质，可处以150,000 至 500,000 新元的罚款和3至10年的监禁；或两者兼施。这与其他严重罪行（如欺诈和伪造）的处罚类似。这也与日本、瑞士、新西兰、德国和法国等其他司法管辖区的量刑制度相当。
近年来，《腐败、贩毒和其他严重犯罪（没收利益）法》（CDSA）进行了两次审查和更新。2018 年，我们加强了对法人和未提交可疑交易报告的处罚。2023 年，我们使警方能够对钱骡采取更严厉的执法行动。
该法案规定了处罚范围。法院随后将根据案件的具体事实考虑施加适当的处罚。量刑中可能考虑的因素包括：洗钱金额；犯罪行为的持续时间；被告的罪责，包括其滥用新加坡金融体系的程度。法院还将考虑减轻处罚的因素，例如被告认罪和自愿没收被扣押的资产。
对于30亿新元洗钱案，法院可能会考虑到这些因素，包括被告相对较早认罪并同意将大部分资金充公。这避免了漫长的法庭程序，从而节省了公共资源。截止目前，新加坡法院的判决与其他司法管辖区的判决相当。而且，与其他在新加坡被判犯有严重罪行的外国人一样，这些罪犯在服刑期满后将被驱逐出境，并禁止再次进入新加坡。
监禁的风险是打击洗钱的重要威慑因素。资产没收是我们打击白领犯罪的另一个重要手段，因为它剥夺了犯罪分子的非法所得，从而对他们在这里洗钱起到威慑作用。但是，最大的威慑力是被抓的可能性。
在全球范围内，洗钱案件很难被发现。像30亿新元洗钱案这样的大案并不多见，该案是通过广泛的情报侦查和对不同类型的信息进行艰苦拼凑的结果。这并不是因为其他司法管辖区没有此类洗钱活动。相反，犯罪分子非常小心地隐藏他们的踪迹。我们从外国执法同行那里也了解到这一点。
这起30亿新元的案件表明，我们的制度有能力发现可疑的个人和行为。一旦我们发现了他们，我们就有决心和能力追查罪犯。
尽管如此，我们仍在继续收紧措施。内政部稍后将提交一项法案，以修订《腐败、贩毒和其他严重犯罪（没收利益）法》（CDSA），进一步提高执法机构追查和起诉洗钱罪犯的能力。该法案还将允许行业监管机构查阅其监管实体提交的可疑交易报告，以便更好地侦查洗钱活动。
以下是英文质询内容：
Mr Leong Mun Wai asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether sentences for offences under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992 have sufficiently deterred individuals from engaging in money laundering; and (b) if not, whether the Government will consider strengthening the sentencing regime.
Mr K Shanmugam: The Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992, or CDSA, provides for fines ranging from $150,000 to $500,000, and jail terms ranging from three years to 10 years; or both, depending on the nature of the money laundering offences. This is similar to the penalties for other serious offences, like cheating and forgery. It is also comparable with the sentencing regimes in other jurisdictions, such as Japan, Switzerland, New Zealand, Germany and France.
The CDSA was reviewed and updated twice in recent years. In 2018, we strengthened penalties against legal persons and failure to file a Suspicious Transaction Report. In 2023, we enabled Police to take firmer enforcement action against money mules.
The Act sets out the range of penalties. The Courts will then consider the appropriate penalties to be imposed, based on the specific facts of the case. Factors that may be considered in the sentencing include: the amount of money laundered; the length of the offending conduct; and the culpability of the accused person, which would include the extent of his abuse of Singapore's financial system. The Courts will also take into account mitigating factors, such as the accused person's plea of guilt and voluntary forfeiture of seized assets.
With respect to the $3 billion money laundering case, the Courts would likely have taken such factors into consideration, including the relatively early plea of guilt and agreement by the accused persons that most of the funds be forfeited to the State. This has saved public resources by avoiding long-drawn court processes. So far, the sentences meted out by the Singapore Courts have been comparable to those in other jurisdictions. And, like other foreigners convicted of serious offences in Singapore, these offenders will be deported after serving their sentence and will be banned from re-entering Singapore.
The risk of imprisonment is an important deterrent against money laundering. Asset forfeiture is another crucial tool in our arsenal against white-collar crime, as it deprives criminals of their illicit proceeds and, hence, acts as a deterrence to laundering their monies here. But the biggest deterrent of all, is the prospect of being caught.
Globally, cases of money laundering are very difficult to uncover. There are not many cases as big as the $3 billion money laundering case, which was the result of extensive intelligence probes and painstaking piecing together of disparate types of information. This is not because there are no such monies being laundered in other jurisdictions. Rather, criminals hide their tracks very carefully. We know this from our foreign law enforcement counterparts as well.
What this $3 billion case has shown is our system's ability to detect suspicious individuals and activities. And once we become aware of them, we have the resolve and capabilities to track the criminals down.
Nevertheless, we continue to tighten our measures. The Ministry of Home Affairs is tabling a Bill at a later Sitting to amend the CDSA to further enhance law enforcement agencies' abilities to pursue and prosecute offenders for money laundering offences. The Bill will also allow sectoral regulators to have access to Suspicious Transaction Reports filed by their regulated entities, to better detect money laundering activities.
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