Financial criminals on a massive banking spree in Singapore: Bloomberg

They have made the city their laundering home.

Singapore prosecuted over $115 million of suspected criminal proceeds in 2013, as more overseas
offenders seek out bank accounts in the city. The Commercial Affairs Department received 22,417 suspicious transaction reports in 2013, a 25% increase from a year earlier. More than $65 million of suspected criminal proceeds were seized in the preceding year.

According to Tan Boon Gin, director of CAD , the city’s openness as an international hub and financial center exposes it to cross-border money-laundering and terrorist financing risks.

Bloomberg’s report indicates that the city’s white-collar police has tripled its financial investigation resources with an increase in suspicious transaction reports and aid requests from overseas enforcement agencies. Organized crime groups are getting more sophisticated and taking advantage of opportunities as Singapore’s financial industry expands, CAD says.