The police have debunked a US claim that a tech firm linked to Chinese transnational crime is based in Singapore.
The firm, SafeW Technology Co Ltd, is allegedly part of Chinese transnational cybercrime-linked Xinbi Guarantee, according to the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
OFAC claimed in a now-unavailable press release that SafeW is based in Singapore and that it is linked to Xinbi Guarantee.
There is no information or evidence to substantiate the claim that SafeW is incorporated in Singapore, the police said in response on Thursday (Sept 10) to OFAC’s claims.
“The SPF is in contact with the US authorities on this matter,” the police added.
The Trump administration had on Wednesday sanctioned Chinese-language marketplace Xinbi Guarantee as part of a crackdown on transnational cybercrime.
The US Department of Justice also announced it had seized Telegram channels and cryptocurrency wallets tied to the platform, which has over 650,000 users, freezing more than US$52 million (S$65 million) in potentially laundered funds in just one day, reports said.
“This is not a distant overseas crime story,” said Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, at a press conference, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.
“It is an industrial extraction of American savings run by Chinese transnational criminal enterprises and platforms.”
SCMP reported that Xinbi Guarantee is accused of enabling scam centres to buy and sell illicit services that target Americans, and helping syndicates connect with merchants.
“Singapore does not tolerate corporate entities that use Singapore as a base, or claims of association with Singapore, to facilitate criminal activities and will take firm action if we detect any wrongdoing,” the police added.
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