Foreigners with multiple passports who are convicted in Singapore can indicate where they prefer to be deported, and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will assess if they can be admitted to that country, said Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling in Parliament on Tuesday (July 2).
The assessment is based on the validity of the foreigners' travel documents, she said.
She was fielding questions from Members of Parliament (MPs) on the recent money laundering case with over S$3 billion in assets seized. The 10 foreign nationals who were arrested on Aug 15, 2023, were convicted of money laundering-related charges and are serving jail terms of 13 to 17 months.
Workers' Party MP Sylvia Lim asked what is taken into account in deciding where convicted foreigners are deported after serving their sentences, and how these considerations were applied to the 10 in this case.
Sun replied that foreigners convicted in Singapore, including those in this case, are deported to "any country to which their passport or travel document allows them to go".
Due to one-third remission and backdating of sentences to the date of arrest, eight of the 10 have already been deported. Seven were deported to Cambodia, while one was sent to Japan.
The destination of deportation is "dependent on the admissibility of the foreigner, based on his or her valid passport", said the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority in April.
Asked by Lim if an offender with multiple passports can choose where to be deported, Sun replied the offender can indicate their preferred country.
"But it cannot just be 'I choose, and therefore I will be sent there'," she added. "There needs to be an assessment by the ministry as to whether or not the individual can be admissible based on the travel document that he or she holds."
In response to another question from Lim about the assets forfeited in the case, Sun said that to date, no foreign governments or parties have lodged competing claims to the assets.
Around S$944 million worth of assets were forfeited to the state, out of over S$1 billion worth of assets frozen or seized from the 10 offenders.
While the forfeited assets have been placed in the Consolidated Fund, "there is still an open process" for foreign jurisdictions to make a formal request to Singapore for mutual legal assistance and, through this process, assert a claim to the assets, said Sun.
The Consolidated Fund is similar to a bank account held by the government, into which public revenues are paid and out of which public spending is made.
Jurong GRC MP Tan Wu Meng asked if the inter-ministerial committee formed to review Singapore's anti-money laundering regime will consider recommending the enhancement of detection, investigation and sentencing to safeguard Singapore's status as a respected financial centre.
Sun replied that the committee, led by Second Finance Minister Indranee Rajah, will share its full findings and recommendations in the fourth quarter of this year.
"As for the adequacy of the penalties prescribed in the law, MHA regularly reviews such, the last time being just recently in 2023," she said.
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This article was first published in The Business Times. Permission required for reproduction.
