Man walks free after facing charge over $2.4m in unlawful money transfers | The Straits Times
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/man-walks-free-after-facing-charge-over-2-4m-in-unlawful-money-transfers
On June 25, 2026, a Singapore district court granted **Sean Koh Chao Lun**, 34, a **discharge amounting to an acquittal** for allegedly running an unlicensed business providing money transfer services. Under Singapore law, individuals granted this type of discharge cannot be charged again for the same offense.
The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) stated on July 7, 2026, that the prosecution applied for the discharge "after careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the matter," though explicit details behind the decision were not disclosed
### 1. Overview of the Original Charges
* **The Accused:** Sean Koh Chao Lun, 34, a Singaporean citizen.
* **The Allegations:** Koh was charged in December 2025 with operating an unlicensed money remittance business.
* **The Sums Involved:** The case involved approximately **£1.4 million (S$2.4 million)**, which was received from overseas accounts.
* **Scam Proceeds:** Out of the total sum, at least **£75,050** was later confirmed to be the illicit proceeds of an impersonation scam targeting two victims in Germany.
### 2. The Mechanics of the Operation
According to preliminary police investigations, the transaction pipeline operated as follows
* **Corporate Setup:** At the time of the alleged offenses, Koh was the sole director of a local company named *Day Brand* (which has since been struck off by ACRA).
* **Payment Processor:** Koh opened an account under his company's name with the digital money transfer platform **Wise Asia Pacific** to conduct "overseas remittance" activities.
* **Crypto Arbitrage:** Koh was reportedly engaged in buying and selling cryptocurrencies, primarily the stablecoin **USDT**. He advertised his trading services on mainstream crypto platforms like Binance.
* **The Fund Flow:** Between May 10 and June 17, 2022, international buyers transferred fiat currency to Day Brand's Wise account, totaling around £1.4 million.
* **The Payouts:** Koh would transfer these international funds from the corporate Wise account into his personal bank account, before dispersing them to other local bank accounts to pay various cryptocurrency sellers for the USDT purchases.
### 3. The Lack of Due Diligence
Police spokespersons previously stated that Koh allegedly made no attempt to establish the legitimate source of the incoming foreign funds. Unbeknownst to him, a portion of the incoming wire transfers (£75,050) directly originated from international cybercrime victims who had been defrauded in Germany. Court documents and local police did not elaborate further on the details of
the German impersonation scam.