Indications of Further Prosecution When Those in Money Laundering Case Are Deported to Home Countries

Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Minister for Law for those convicted in Singapore for their involvement in the billion-dollar money laundering case, whether there have been indications from other governments to the Singapore authorities that the offenders will face investigations into the relevant predicate offences upon being deported to their home countries.

If I may, Sir, the hon Member, Ms Lim may be referring to deportation in the sense of extradition. If that is the case, extradition will only take place when there is an extradition treaty in force and a valid request has been made under the treaty. There are no extradition proceedings here. In the absence of extradition, the position is that after conviction and serving of sentence, the offenders will be required to leave Singapore.

As at end June 2024, eight of the 10 convicted foreigners have been deported and are barred from re-entering Singapore. This similarly applies to the remaining two after they finish serving their sentences. These foreigners can go to any country which their passports or travel documents allow them to go to, as explained by the hon Minister of State Ms Sun Xueling, just now.

What happens to them in those countries or in their countries of nationality is not within our control.

Sir, one supplementary question for the Minister of State. Given the transnational nature of money laundering, as we have seen in this recent case, does the Ministry assess that there is a need to enhance our extradition arrangements, meaning to increase extradition arrangements with other countries which, so far, we have not had any such treaties with?

Sir, I thank the hon Member for her question. Currently, we have extradition treaties with the United States, Germany, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Indonesia. We also have extradition arrangements with about 40 declared Commonwealth territories. These include Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India and the United Kingdom. In addition, we have reciprocal arrangements with Malaysia and Brunei based on endorsement of arrest warrants.

So, we have already a significant extradition network with about 44 jurisdictions. Expanding this network is not just about numbers alone. For extradition arrangements, we will have to look at it to see whether there are adequate protections, whether it carries risk to the people of Singapore, because the shoe can be on the other foot as well.

We are open to more extradition arrangements, but we will continue to take a careful and considered approach.