Jail for woman who conspired to bring in $450,000 unlawfully; notes were counterfeit

51-year-old Indonesian could not substantiate source of notes and gave inconsistent accounts

- Shaffiq Alkhatib

Two Indonesian women worked together in a plan to bring cash totaling $450,000 into Singapore without informing the authorities, but the 45 pieces of $10,000 notes later turned out to be counterfeit.

One of the women, Sofia Martha, 51, was sentenced to two months' jail on May 15 after she pleaded guilty to one count of engaging in a conspiracy to move into the country more than $20,000 in cash without alerting the Singapore authorities in January.

The case involving her alleged accomplice, Col Vinna, 33, is pending.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Michelle Tay told the court that the cross-border cash reporting procedure is intended to be a tool of detection and prevention.

She added: "Its purpose is to guard Singapore's financial system from being abused by insidious criminal syndicates for money laundering and other illicit purposes."

She said Sofia could not credibly substantiate the source of the notes and had given officers from Singapore's Commercial Affairs Department inconsistent accounts on why they were brought into the country.