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SINGAPORE: An advisory panel has recommended a jail term of at least six months for those who allow their bank accounts or Singpass credentials to be used to facilitate fraud.
The Sentencing Advisory Panel released sentencing guidelines for six fraud-related offences on Wednesday (Aug 21), saying they were intended to guide court proceedings and were not binding.
The bill proposes that people who give control of a bank account to another person “without taking reasonable steps to ascertain the purpose for which that person accessed, operated or controlled the bank account” should be sentenced to at least six months in prison.
Currently, the penalty for this offence is a fine of up to S$50,000 or imprisonment of up to 3 years, or both.
Likewise, the panel recommended a minimum jail term of six months for anyone who leaks Singpass credentials. Currently, the penalty for the offence is a fine of up to S$10,000 or jail term of up to three years, or both.
The panel said the guidelines came amid growing concerns about scams, noting that the number of reported scams had increased more than sevenfold over the past five years, and losses from scams had increased fourfold.
The group said there were 46,563 fraud cases in 2023, an increase of 46.8% from 2022. Meanwhile, the total amount lost by fraud victims in 2023 reached S$651.8 million.
The panel made four other recommendations for similar crimes.
Offence: Neglecting to transfer control of a personal bank account to another person
- Recommendation: At least 6 months imprisonment
- Current penalty: A fine of up to S$150,000, or imprisonment of up to 3 years, or both
Crime: Recklessly handing over control of one’s bank account to another person
- Recommendation: Minimum 12 months imprisonment
- Current penalty: A fine of up to S$250,000, or imprisonment of up to five years, or both
Crime: Transferring control of a person’s bank account to another person, knowing or having reason to believe that this will help that person retain criminal benefits
- Recommendation: At least 18 months imprisonment
- Current penalty: A fine of up to S$500,000, or imprisonment of up to 10 years, or both
Crime: Disclosing another person’s Singpass credentials
- Recommendation: Minimum 12 months imprisonment
- Current penalty for first offence: Up to S$10,000 fine, or up to 3 years imprisonment, or both
- Current penalty for repeat offenders: A fine of up to S$20,000, or imprisonment of up to five years, or both.
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