The Proceeds of Crime Unit (PCU) identifies and seizes proceeds of crime, managing such assets until they are restituted or confiscated under the CDSA.
Traditionally, the primary focus of most investigation units is the gathering of evidence to ascertain whether a criminal offence had been committed. If so, the criminal may be prosecuted and upon conviction, sentenced to a fine or imprisonment or both.
Ordinarily, such sentences would be a sufficient deterrent for most crimes. However, in cases of financial crime, the criminal is potentially able to profit substantially from his offence. For example, an ordinary salaried worker may embezzle $5 million and be willing to risk being jailed for several years if caught. He may feel that it is "worth it" to commit the financial crime if he is able to enjoy the benefits after his release from prison.
As such, robust action is needed to remove a criminal's financial incentive to commit financial or economic crime. This can be achieved through determined efforts to identify, seize, confiscate proceeds of crime and/or return stolen property back to the victims. A financial criminal would thus be unable to enjoy any benefit of crime after release from prison.
The process of asset recovery, which often involved funds tracing and concealed income analysis of the suspect, may even uncover more predicate offences than initially reported.
Enforcement agencies that come across a possible incidence of money laundering while investigating into any offence may refer the case to PCU for a joint investigation and subsequent prosecution. This shortens the time taken to recover assets and deprive criminal of their ill gotten gains.
PCU works alongside investigative units to combat financial crime by:
- Making asset recovery an integral part of criminal investigations;
- Identifying, assessing, restraining and forfeiting illicit wealth accumulated through criminal activities; and
- Co-operating with foreign counterparts to combat transnational crimes including money laundering.
Another area of interest in AML/CFT is to prevent the abuse of non-bank value transfer systems like remittance agents and money changers for money laundering and terrorism financing.
PCU investigates offences disclosed under the Money Changing and Remittance Businesses Act. An example of such an offence is where a person operate money changing business and/or money remittance business without the required licenses. Regulatory breaches are dealt with by the regulator, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, with whom we work closely.