PART 1 AMENDMENTS TO CORRUPTION, DRUG
TRAFFICKING AND OTHER SERIOUS CRIMES (CONFISCATION OF BENEFITS) ACT |
2. Section 4 of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act (Cap. 65A) (called in this Part the CDS Act) is amended by inserting, immediately after subsection (5), the following subsection:| “(5A) To avoid doubt, a District Court or Magistrate’s Court may make a confiscation order under subsection (1) in respect of the full amount determined in accordance with section 10 to be the value of the benefits derived by the defendant from drug dealing.”. |
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3. Section 5 of the CDS Act is amended by inserting, immediately after subsection (8), the following subsection:| “(9) To avoid doubt, a District Court or Magistrate’s Court may make a confiscation order under subsection (1) in respect of the full amount determined in accordance with section 10 to be the value of the benefits derived by the defendant from criminal conduct.”. |
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4. Section 17 of the CDS Act is amended —| (a) | by deleting paragraph (b) of subsection (5) and substituting the following paragraph:| “(b) | any capital markets products.”; |
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| | (b) | by inserting, immediately after subsection (8), the following subsection:| “(9) In this section, “capital markets products” has the meaning given by section 2(1) of the Securities and Futures Act (Cap. 289).”; and |
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| | (c) | by deleting the word “securities” in the section heading and substituting the words “capital markets products”. |
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5. Section 39 of the CDS Act is amended by deleting subsection (2) and substituting the following subsection:“(2) Any person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction —| (a) | if the person is an individual, to a fine not exceeding $250,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both; or | | (b) | if the person is not an individual, to a fine not exceeding $500,000.”. |
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6. Section 41 of the CDS Act is amended —| (a) | by inserting, immediately after the word “arrangement” in subsection (2)(a), the words “, or an international arrangement,”; | | (b) | by deleting paragraph (b) of subsection (2) and substituting the following paragraph:| “(b) | the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer is satisfied —| (i) | in any case where there exists an international arrangement mentioned in paragraph (a), that the corresponding authority has given appropriate undertakings under or in accordance with the international arrangement —| (A) | for protecting the confidentiality of any thing communicated to the corresponding authority; and | | (B) | for controlling the use that will be made of that thing, including an undertaking that the thing will not be used as evidence in any proceedings; or |
| | (ii) | in any other case, that the corresponding authority has given appropriate undertakings —| (A) | for protecting the confidentiality of any thing communicated to the corresponding authority; and | | (B) | for controlling the use that will be made of that thing, including an undertaking that the thing will not be used as evidence in any proceedings;”; and |
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| | (c) | by inserting, immediately after the definition of “corresponding authority” in subsection (3), the following definition:| “ “international arrangement” means an arrangement for cooperation in accordance with the rules or by‑laws of, or any principles or guidelines issued by, any prescribed international organisation, and to which the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office mentioned in section 3A and the corresponding authority of a foreign country are parties.”. |
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7. Section 43(5) of the CDS Act is amended by deleting paragraph (b) and substituting the following paragraph:| “(b) | if the person is not an individual, to a fine not exceeding $1 million or twice the value of the benefits of drug dealing in respect of which the offence was committed, whichever is higher.”. |
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8. Section 44 of the CDS Act is amended —| (a) | by deleting the words “benefits of criminal conduct” in subsection (1)(a) and substituting the words “benefits from criminal conduct”; and | | (b) | by deleting paragraph (b) of subsection (5) and substituting the following paragraph:| “(b) | if the person is not an individual, to a fine not exceeding $1 million or twice the value of the benefits from criminal conduct in respect of which the offence was committed, whichever is higher.”. |
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9. Section 46(6) of the CDS Act is amended by deleting paragraph (b) and substituting the following paragraph:| “(b) | if the person is not an individual, to a fine not exceeding $1 million or twice the value of the property in respect of which the offence was committed, whichever is higher.”. |
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10. Section 47 of the CDS Act is amended —| (a) | by deleting paragraph (b) of subsection (6) and substituting the following paragraph:| “(b) | if the person is not an individual, to a fine not exceeding $1 million or twice the value of the property in respect of which the offence was committed, whichever is higher.”; and |
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| | (b) | by deleting the word “of” in the section heading and substituting the word “from”. |
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11. The CDS Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 47, the following section:| “Possessing or using property reasonably suspected to be benefits from drug dealing, etc. |
47AA.—(1) Any person who possesses or uses any property that may be reasonably suspected of being, or of in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, representing, any benefits of drug dealing or benefits from criminal conduct shall, if the person fails to account satisfactorily how the person came by the property, be guilty of an offence.(2) Any person who commits an offence under subsection (1) shall be liable on conviction —| (a) | if the person is an individual, to a fine not exceeding $150,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both; or | | (b) | if the person is not an individual, to a fine not exceeding $300,000.”. |
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12. Section 47A of the CDS Act is amended by inserting, immediately after subsection (2), the following subsections:“(3) For the purpose of proving under this Part whether doing or being concerned in any act in a foreign country constitutes drug dealing or criminal conduct —| (a) | where the prosecution adduces, to the satisfaction of the court, some evidence that doing or being concerned in the act satisfies every element of a foreign drug dealing offence or foreign serious offence, it is presumed, until the contrary is proved, that the act constitutes that foreign drug dealing offence or foreign serious offence, as the case may be; and | | (b) | without affecting section 59(1)(b) of the Evidence Act, the court may take judicial notice of any Act passed by the legislature of that foreign country. |
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| (4) Section 59(2) and (3) of the Evidence Act applies to the taking of judicial notice under subsection (3)(b).”. |
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| 13. Section 48 of the CDS Act is amended by deleting “$30,000” in subsections (1) and (2) and substituting in each case “$250,000”. |
| 14. Section 48A of the CDS Act is amended by inserting, immediately after the words “serious offences”, the words “, and to allow the confiscation of any physical currency or bearer negotiable instrument moved, attempted to be moved, or received, in contravention of the requirements under this Part”. |
15. The CDS Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 48F, the following section:| “Confiscation orders for offences under section 48C or 48E |
| 48FA. Where a defendant is convicted of an offence under section 48C(2) or 48E(2), the court may, on the application of the Public Prosecutor, make a confiscation order against the defendant in respect of any part of the cash, in relation to which the offence was committed, that exceeds the prescribed amount (or its equivalent in a foreign currency).”. |
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16. Section 60 of the CDS Act is amended by deleting subsection (1) and substituting the following subsection:“(1) The Minister, or any person authorised by the Minister in writing, may compound any offence under this Act, or under any regulations made under this Act, that is prescribed as a compoundable offence by collecting from a person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum not exceeding —| (a) | in the case of any offence under section 48C(2) or 48E(2), $20,000; or | | (b) | in the case of any other offence, $5,000.”. |
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