Remittance services in S'pore at risk of being exploited for terrorism financing: Report

Money remittance providers, including those offering cross-border online payments and unlicensed services, pose the highest risk of being targeted for terrorism financing.

- Andrew Wong

This is according to an updated Terrorism Financing National Risk Assessment (TFNRA) report published on July 1 by the Finance and Home Affairs ministries and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

In the report, which was last published in 2020, the agencies also identified new cross-border fast payment systems and online fundraising as emerging risk areas.

Cross-border fast payment systems include services provided through bank apps and QR codes.

The agencies said these have emerged on the radar because of Singapore's high internet penetration, the prevalence of online banking, and the global surge in the digital economy driven by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The agencies said money remittances are popular among Singapore's foreign migrant worker population, who find that the providers offer them "cost-effective and efficient remittance services compared with banks".

However, the agencies noted that some countries in the region that local remittance agents frequently transact with are known to have higher exposure to terrorism and terrorism financing risks.

In 2020, a 36-year-old Singaporean man was convicted of a terrorism financing offence for sending $450 to a man in Turkey linked to militant group ISIS through remittance company Western Union.

He was sentenced to two years and nine months' jail.

The report also flagged concerns about foreign online fund-raising campaigns.

A 27-year-old Bangladeshi construction worker was sentenced in 2022 to two years and eight months' jail after he donated nearly $900 through various online platforms to Syrian-based terrorist organisations in 2020.

He was convicted of five charges related to terrorism financing.