Woman opened 3 bank accounts that received over $7llm

She admitted to carrying out business of providing payment service without licence

- Shaffiq Alkhatib

A woman has admitted in court that she did not know the sources of hundreds of millions of dollars that were transferred to her firm's three corporate bank accounts.

On March 5, Zin Nwe Nyunt, 58, pleaded guilty to two counts of working together with a male Myanmar national, who was her husband's childhood friend, to carry out a business of providing a payment service in Singapore without a licence.

The woman, a Singapore citizen, will be sentenced on April 1.

After incorporating a wholesale trading firm, called Unione, and opening its three corporate bank accounts, she earned "commissions" totalling more than $170,000.

Nyan Win, the man she worked with, received more than $110,000 in "commissions". The 60-year-old Singapore permanent resident had earlier pleaded guilty to similar charges. He will be sentenced on April 24.

In total, Unione's bank accounts received over US$531 million (S$711 million) in 2020 and 2021.

The offences came to light in August 2021 when the police received information that an Australian investment scam victim had transferred US$1.8 million to several bank accounts maintained by companies in Singapore.

Three of the companies later transferred more than $480,000 to a bank account belonging to Unione.