Jail for woman who set up firm whose bank account later received scam monies

A woman who incorporated a wholesale trading firm whose bank accounts later received more than US$500 million (S$640.7 million), including scam proceeds, was sentenced to one year and six months' jail on July 14.

- Shaffiq Alkhatib

Singaporean Zin Nwe Nyunt, 58, had admitted that she did not know where the money came from.

In earlier proceedings, the court heard that in August 2021, 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 over $480,000 in scam proceeds to a bank account belonging to a firm called Unione, which Zin Nwe Nyunt had incorporated.

In March, she pleaded guilty to two counts of working together with a male Myanmar national – her husband's childhood friend – to carry out a business of providing a payment service in Singapore without a licence.

She had earned "commissions" of over $170,000, while Nyan Win, the man she worked with, received over $110,000. The latter, a 61-year-old Singapore permanent resident, had earlier pleaded guilty to similar charges and is expected to be sentenced on July 30.