Organised Crime Act 2015 - Singapore Statutes Online

PART 2

ORGANISED CRIME OFFENCES

Locally-linked organised criminal group membership

5.—(1) Any person who is or acts as a member of a group, knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe that the group is a locally‑linked organised criminal group, commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both.

(2) In determining whether a person is guilty of an offence under subsection (1), the matters which a court may consider include, but are not limited to —

(a)	that person’s involvement in meetings with known members of the group;
(b)	whether that person is identified as a member by known members (whether existing or former members) of the group;
(c)	whether that person adopts the style of dress, hand signs, language or tattoos used by known members of the group;
(d)	whether that person associates with known members of the group;
(e)	whether that person has recruited or attempted to recruit any other person to be a member of the group;
(f)	whether that person habitually visits premises or meeting places known to be used by the group, and the person knows or has reasonable grounds to believe that those premises or meeting places are owned or occupied by the group;
(g)	whether that person has been arrested more than once in the company of known members of the group for any serious offence that is consistent with the usual criminal activity of the group;
(h)	whether that person is identified as a member of the group by physical evidence such as photographs or other documentation;
(i)	whether that person has received or is receiving any financial or other material benefit from the group;
(j)	whether that person signed up to be a member of the group; and
(k)	whether that person has undergone any initiation ceremony or is subject to any disciplinary regime of the group.

Recruiting members for organised criminal group

6.—(1) A person in Singapore commits an offence if the person —

(a)	incites, induces or invites another person (whether within or outside Singapore); or
(b)	uses any violence, threat or intimidation towards any other person (whether within or outside Singapore) in order to incite, induce or invite that other person,

to become a member of, or to assist in the management of, a group, knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe that the group is an organised criminal group.

(2) A person outside Singapore commits an offence if the person —

(a)	incites, induces or invites another person (whether within or outside Singapore); or
(b)	uses any violence, threat or intimidation towards any other person (whether within or outside Singapore) in order to incite, induce or invite that other person,

to become a member of, or to assist in the management of, a group, knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe that the group is a locally-linked organised criminal group.

(3) Subject to subsection (4), a person who commits an offence under subsection (1) or (2) shall be liable on conviction —

(a)	in the case of an individual, to a fine not exceeding $250,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both; or
(b)	in any other case, to a fine not exceeding $500,000.

(4) Where a person (A) commits an offence under subsection (1) or (2) and it is proved that A knows or has reasonable grounds to believe that the other person referred to in that subsection was, at the time of the offence, a vulnerable person or below 21 years of age, A shall be liable on conviction —

(a)	in the case of an individual, to a fine not exceeding $350,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years or to both; or
(b)	in any other case, to a fine not exceeding $700,000.

(5) For the purposes of subsection (4), unless otherwise proven, A is presumed to know or to have reasonable grounds to believe that the other person referred to in subsection (1) or (2), as the case may be, was at the time of the offence, a vulnerable person or below 21 years of age.

(6) In this section, “vulnerable person” means any person who suffers from an impairment of, or a disturbance in the functioning of, the mind or brain resulting from any disability or disorder of the mind or brain which impairs the person’s ability to make a proper judgment in relation to whether or not to become a member of, or to assist in the management of, an organised criminal group.

Instructing commission of offence for organised criminal group

7.—(1) A person in Singapore commits an offence if the person instructs, directly or indirectly, any other person (whether within or outside Singapore) to commit —

(a)	a Part 2 offence (other than an offence under this section); or
(b)	an offence under any written law which the person instructing knows is at the direction of, or in furtherance of the illegal purpose of, an organised criminal group.

(2) A person outside Singapore commits an offence if the person instructs, directly or indirectly, any other person (whether within or outside Singapore) to commit —

(a)	a Part 2 offence (other than an offence under this section); or
(b)	an offence under any written law which the person instructing knows is at the direction of, or in furtherance of the illegal purpose of, a locally-linked organised criminal group.

(3) A person (A) who commits an offence under subsection (1) or (2) shall be guilty of an offence, and the punishment for the offence upon A’s conviction is as follows:

(a)	if the offence instructed is not committed in consequence of A’s instruction — the punishment provided for the offence instructed, but as modified by subsection (4);
(b)	if the offence instructed is committed in consequence of A’s instruction — the punishment provided for the offence instructed, but as modified by subsection (5);
(c)	if the person instructed commits the offence instructed with a different intention or knowledge from A — the punishment provided for the offence which would have been committed if the offence had been done with the intention or knowledge of A, but as modified by subsection (5);
(d)	if the offence instructed is not committed but a different offence, which is a probable consequence of the instructed offence, is committed instead — the punishment provided for the different offence, but as modified by subsection (5);
(e)	if the different offence mentioned in paragraph (d) is committed in addition to the offence instructed, and constitutes a distinct offence — the punishment provided for the different offence mentioned in paragraph (d), and for the offence instructed, but as modified by subsection (5);
(f)	if A gave the instruction with the intention of causing a particular effect by the offence instructed, but another offence with a different effect from that intended by A is committed instead and A knew that the offence instructed was likely to cause the different effect — the punishment provided for the other offence with the different effect, but as modified by subsection (5).

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3)(a), the modifications are as follows:

(a)

where the punishment, or one of the punishments, prescribed for the offence instructed is a fine, the maximum amount of fine is twice the maximum amount of fine prescribed for the offence instructed;

(b)

where the punishment, or one of the punishments, prescribed for the offence instructed is a term of imprisonment (other than life imprisonment), the maximum imprisonment term is half of the maximum imprisonment term prescribed for the offence instructed;

(c)

where the punishment, or one of the punishments, prescribed for the offence instructed is death or life imprisonment, that punishment is replaced with an imprisonment term which must not exceed 10 years;

(d)

where —

(i)	the punishment, or one of the punishments, prescribed for the offence instructed is death or life imprisonment; and
(ii)	hurt is caused to any person as a result of an act for which the instructor is liable in consequence of the instruction,

that punishment is replaced with an imprisonment for a term which must not exceed 20 years.

(5) For the purposes of subsection (3)(b) to (f), the modifications are as follows:

(a)	where the punishment, or one of the punishments, prescribed for the predicate offence is a fine, the maximum amount of fine is 4 times the maximum amount of fine prescribed for that offence;
(b)	where the punishment, or one of the punishments, prescribed for the predicate offence is imprisonment for a term which extends to less than 4 years, the maximum imprisonment term is replaced with a maximum imprisonment term not exceeding a period equal to the maximum term of imprisonment for the predicate offence plus 4 years;
(c)	where the punishment, or one of the punishments, prescribed for the predicate offence is imprisonment for a term which extends to 4 years or more (other than life imprisonment), the maximum imprisonment term is replaced with a maximum imprisonment term not exceeding a period equal to the maximum term of imprisonment for the predicate offence plus 10 years.

(6) To avoid doubt, nothing in subsection (4)(a) or (b) or (5) affects the minimum sentence which is fixed or specified under any written law.

(7) In proceedings for an offence under subsection (1) or (2), it is not necessary for the prosecution to prove that the accused instructed a particular person to commit an offence.

(8) In subsection (5), “predicate offence” means —

(a)	in relation to subsection (3)(b) — the offence instructed;
(b)	in relation to subsection (3)(c) — the offence which would have been committed if the offence had been done with the intention or knowledge of A;
(c)	in relation to subsection (3)(d) — the different offence mentioned in that subsection;
(d)	in relation to subsection (3)(e) — both the different offence mentioned in subsection (3)(d) and the offence instructed; and
(e)	in relation to subsection (3)(f) — the other offence with the different effect mentioned in that subsection.

Procuring expenditure or application of property to support, aid or promote certain offences related to organised criminal group

8.—(1) A person in Singapore who procures from any other person (whether within or outside Singapore) any expenditure or application of any property knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe that the expenditure or application of the property is in support of, or to aid or promote the commission of —

(a)	a Part 2 offence (other than an offence under this section); or
(b)	an offence under any written law, which is for the purpose of conferring a financial or other material benefit on an organised criminal group,