If convicted, Victor Foo faces a fine not exceeding S$125,000, imprisonment for a term of up to three years, or both
[SINGAPORE] The Singapore Precious Metals Exchange (SPME) and its director, Victor Foo, are set to be charged in court on Thursday (Jan 22) for allegedly operating a business of providing payment services without a licence, the police said on Wednesday (Jan 21).
The Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) said that between Jan 28, 2020, and Sep 12, 2022, nearly US$81 million flowed into SPME’s Singapore bank accounts from “payer entities”, most of whom were based overseas.
These funds were reportedly intended to be passed on to “payee entities”, also located outside Singapore.
The company had also allegedly received instructions from the payer and payee entities to execute transactions relating to the purchase and sale of gold bars, which are suspected to have served as a justification for the flow of these monies.
SPME operates a platform through which institutions and individuals buy, store and trade precious metals, including gold bars.
The CAD said Foo consented to SPME carrying out these services.
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Regulatory breach and penalties
The CAD established that SPME does not hold a licence to provide payment services under the Payment Services Act 2019, nor is it considered an exempted payment service provider.
Both the company and Foo will be charged under Section 5 of the Payment Services Act 2019.
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If convicted, Foo faces a fine not exceeding S$125,000, imprisonment for a term of up to three years, or both.
As an entity, SPME faces a fine not exceeding S$250,000. In the case of a continuing offence, the company may face an additional fine of up to S$25,000 for every day the offence continues after conviction.
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