By Shaffiq Alkhatib
SINGAPORE – Chen Binjue, 41, the former director of the public relations firm Dionysuss Lifestyle, was sentenced to two years and four months in jail on November 5 for her involvement in a money laundering operation. The scam, which involved the receipt of US$952,000 (over S$1.27 million) from an impersonation fraud, led to her conviction on one charge of dealing with criminal conduct benefits. Chen had pleaded guilty to this charge, and eight additional offences, including forgery, were taken into account at sentencing.
According to the prosecution, almost all of the funds, except for around $3,000, have been returned to the victim, a UK-based firm. Chen, a Singapore permanent resident, had incorporated Dionysuss Lifestyle in 2016 but was no longer listed as the director of the company as of November 5, following her criminal activities.
The scheme began in 2019 when Chen became involved with a money laundering syndicate, allegedly led by unknown individuals from China. Deputy Public Prosecutor Kathy Chu stated that Chen knowingly allowed her firm’s Maybank account to be used to receive illicit funds, despite having reasonable grounds to suspect the syndicate’s criminal involvement.
The scam unfolded on June 25, 2019, when a director at the UK-based International Data Corporation (IDC UK) was targeted by a phone impersonation scam. The fraudster, pretending to be the director’s superior, instructed him to transfer funds for a “business acquisition,” claiming that a lawyer would later handle the legal aspects. The scammer, also impersonating a lawyer, further convinced the director to transfer US$952,000 to Dionysuss Lifestyle’s Maybank account.
The money was deposited the following day, but suspicions were raised when $296,639 was transferred from the account to a Hong Kong company. Maybank froze the account after receiving alerts about the illegal transactions, and the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) seized the funds on June 28, 2019.
In an attempt to cover up the crime, Chen forged several invoices for fake transactions and sent them to Maybank. Meanwhile, the director of IDC UK filed a police report about the scam on July 12, 2019. Six days later, more than $290,000 was successfully returned to the victim.
In a further effort to release the funds, Chen recruited Wilson Ho, offering him a monthly salary in exchange for becoming a director of Dionysuss Lifestyle. Chen also engaged a lawyer to communicate with the CAD and presented forged invoices to support the fraudulent claim that the funds should be released.
Despite these attempts, CAD ordered that the funds be returned to IDC UK in August 2020, and more than $1.27 million was successfully credited back to the victim two days later. Chen’s bail was set at $40,000, and she is scheduled to begin serving her sentence on November 12, 2024.
This case highlights the importance of vigilance in detecting and preventing impersonation scams and financial fraud.