By Shaffiq Alkhatib for The Straits Times

Copyright tnp

A woman who worked with an accomplice to transport cash totalling $450,000 into Singapore without informing the authorities was fined $16,000 on Sept 26.

Believing her fellow Indonesian accomplice, the woman, Col Vinna, 33, thought that the 45 pieces of $10,000 notes in Singapore currency were genuine, but they were not.

She also thought that she could earn up to $45,000 in commissions from the plan.

Col was handed the fine after she pleaded guilty to one count of engaging in a conspiracy with Sofia Martha to move more than $20,000 in cash into Singapore without alerting the authorities.

Sofia, then 51, was sentenced to two months’ jail in May.

Deputy Public Prosecutor David Koh said: “This case exemplifies the pressing public interest in defending our financial system against money laundering and other illicit funds.

“As these notes turned out to be counterfeit, this placed Singapore at risk of the circulation of counterfeit currency.”

In earlier proceedings, the court heard that Sofia could not credibly substantiate the source of the notes and had given officers from Singapore’s Commercial Affairs Department inconsistent accounts about why they were brought into the country.

She initially told them that a man, known only as Mr Purwatnomo, had asked her to help him change the orchid series of Singapore dollar notes to rupiah.

But in another statement, she said she wanted to bring the notes to Singapore to sell, as they were “an old series of currency notes worth more than their face value”.

But Sofia later said that Mr Purwatnomo had given her the notes as an “investment” for her to set up a company here, and that he also let her decide whether she wanted to change the money to rupiah.

She claimed that she agreed to exchange the money and contacted a male friend to ask him if he had any contacts who could help her.

According to Sofia, he introduced her to Col and the two women spoke for the first time via a video call on Jan 2.

Col carried out some checks with money changers and her sister, who ran a money-changing business in Indonesia.

Col then found out that money changers would not accept the notes because of their large value.

After that, she advised Sofia that they should go to Singapore to exchange the notes, and the older woman agreed.

On Jan 3, Sofia handed Col 45 notes and the two women flew from Jakarta to Singapore.

DPP Koh said: “The accused and Sofia shared an understanding that they would not make a (report about the notes). The accused therefore did not make the requisite declaration when she brought the notes in.”

Col also did not ask Sofia where the notes came from, the court heard.

Instead, Col went to the branches of two different banks here and was told that the notes would have to be sent to the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

The banks also told her that she had to open a bank account to carry out the currency exchange.

Col then contacted a friend, whom she knew as Pei Shan, and asked her to help open a bank account to deposit the notes.

Pei Shan agreed to do so after Col said the notes were real and that she had “received them from her father”.

The two women went to a bank branch in Upper Thomson and Col handed her three of the notes.

When Pei Shan tried to deposit a note, bank officers realised that it was counterfeit and the police were alerted.

The counterfeit notes were seized and Col and Sofia were later charged in court.