A 34-year-old deaf-mute man named Lin Jianqiang was sentenced to four weeks in jail after admitting to receiving criminal proceeds.
Lin appeared in State Courts with a sign language interpreter. A second charge related to Payment Services Act violations was considered during sentencing but did not add to his penalty.
Lin worked as a dishwasher when the offenses occurred. Police investigating a fraud case traced $9,075 of criminal proceeds to his bank account.
Lin met a woman called “Latifa” online in 2018. They communicated regularly through internet channels, with Latifa claiming to live in Dubai.
Though they never met in person, Lin considered her his fiancée and planned to marry her.
In 2020, Latifa asked Lin to receive funds through his bank account and transfer them according to her instructions. Lin used the money to buy Bitcoin cryptocurrency, which he then transferred to Latifa.
Court documents show Lin had concerns about potential illegal activity but helped anyway, hoping Latifa would come to Singapore and marry him as promised.
Singapore police warned Lin on August 17, 2020, that his actions violated the Payment Services Act. Despite acknowledging this warning, bank records showed he processed approximately $177,271 through his accounts between November 7, 2020, and February 10, 2021.
Lin began suspecting Latifa might be using him to launder illegal money. He confronted her several times, but continued helping when she repeated her promise to marry him.
Authorities could not identify who was actually behind Latifa’s account. The prosecutor recommended a one to two-month jail sentence as a deterrent against future reoffending.
