Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992

Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992 2020 REVISED EDITION This revised edition incorporates all amendments up to and including 1 December 2021 and comes into operation on 31 December 2021 An Act to provide for the confiscation of benefits derived from, and to combat, corruption, drug dealing and other serious crimes and for purposes connected therewith. [44/2007; 21/2014] [30 November 1993] PART 1 PRELIMINARY Short title 1. This Act is the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992. General interpretation 2.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires — “authorised officer” means — (a) any officer of the Bureau; (b) any special investigator of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau appointed under section 3(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1960; (c) any Commercial Affairs Officer appointed under section 64 of the Police Force Act 2004; (d) any police officer; and (e) any other person authorised in writing by the Minister for the purposes of this Act; “bank” means a bank licensed under the Banking Act 1970; “charging order” means an order made under section 20(1); “confiscation order” means an order made under section 6 or 7; “corresponding law” means a law of a foreign country or part thereof providing for the control or regulation, in that country or part thereof, of — (a) the production, supply, use, export and import of drugs and other substances in accordance with the provisions of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs signed at New York on 30 March 1961; (b) the production, supply, use, export and import of dangerous or otherwise harmful drugs pursuant to any treaty, convention or other agreement or arrangement to which the government of that country and the Government of Singapore are for the time being parties; or (c) the benefits of trafficking in the drugs or substances mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b); “criminal conduct” means doing or being concerned in, whether in Singapore or elsewhere, any act constituting a serious offence or a foreign serious offence; “dealing with property” is to be construed in accordance with section 19(7); “defendant” means a person against whom proceedings have been instituted for a drug dealing offence or a serious offence, as the case may be, or offences whether or not the person has been convicted thereof; “drug dealing” means doing or being concerned in, whether in Singapore or elsewhere, any act constituting a drug dealing offence or a foreign drug dealing offence; “drug dealing offence” means — (a) any offence specified in the First Schedule; (b) conspiracy to commit any such offence; (c) inciting another to commit any such offence; (d) attempting to commit any such offence; or (e) aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of any such offence; “employer”, in relation to a legal counsel, includes — (a) if the employer is one of a number of corporations that are related to each other under section 6 of the Companies Act 1967 — every corporation so related as if the legal counsel is also employed by each of the related corporations; and (b) if the employer is a public agency within the meaning of section 128A(6) of the Evidence Act 1893 and the legal counsel is required as part of his or her duties of employment or appointment to provide legal advice or assistance in connection with the application of the law or any form of resolution of legal dispute to any other public agency or agencies — the other public agency or agencies as if the legal counsel is also employed by the other public agency or each of the other public agencies; “financial institution” has the meaning given by section 2 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022, and includes a VCC; [Act 18 of 2022 wef 28/04/2023] “foreign country” means any country or territory outside Singapore; “foreign court” means a court of competent jurisdiction in a foreign country which is a party to any treaty, memorandum of understanding or agreement for the control of narcotic drugs or for assistance in criminal matters to which Singapore is also a party; “foreign drug dealing offence” means an offence against a corresponding law that consists of or includes conduct which, if the conduct had occurred in Singapore, would have constituted a drug dealing offence; “foreign serious offence” — (a) means an offence (other than a foreign drug dealing offence) against the law of a foreign country or part thereof that consists of or includes conduct which, if the conduct had occurred in Singapore, would have constituted a serious offence; and (b) includes any offence specified in the Third Schedule; [Act 24 of 2024 wef 14/11/2024] [Deleted by Act 24 of 2024 wef 14/11/2024] “gift caught by this Act” is to be construed in accordance with section 15(7) or (8); “interest”, in relation to property, includes any right; “legal counsel” has the meaning given by section 3(7) of the Evidence Act 1893; “making a gift” is to be construed in accordance with section 15(9); “material” includes any book, document or other record in any form, and any container or article relating thereto; “Monetary Authority of Singapore” means the Monetary Authority of Singapore established under section 3 of the Monetary Authority of Singapore Act 1970; “officer of customs” has the meaning given by the Customs Act 1960; “officer of the Bureau” means the Director or any officer of the Central Narcotics Bureau appointed under section 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1973; “possession”, in relation to any property, means actual or constructive possession of the property; “property” means money and all other property, movable or immovable, including things in action and other intangible or incorporeal property; “realisable property” means — (a) any property held by the defendant; and (b) any property held by a person to whom the defendant has, directly or indirectly, made a gift caught by this Act; “Registrar” means, in relation to proceedings in — (a) the General Division of the High Court — the Registrar, Deputy Registrar or Assistant Registrar of the Supreme Court; and (b) a District Court or a Magistrate’s Court — the Registrar or Deputy Registrar of the State Courts; “restraint order” means an order made under section 19(1); “serious offence” means — (a) any of the offences specified in the Second Schedule; (b) conspiracy to commit any of those offences; (c) inciting others to commit any of those offences; (d) attempting to commit any of those offences; or (e) aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of any of those offences; “serious scam offence” means — (a) any of the offences specified in the Fourth Schedule; (b) conspiracy to commit any of those offences; (c) inciting others to commit any of those offences; (d) attempting to commit any of those offences; or (e) aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of any of those offences; [Act 21 of 2025 wef 30/12/2025] “Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer” means an authorised officer — (a) who has been appointed by the Minister as a Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer for the purposes of this Act; and (b) who has his or her appointment as a Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer published in the Gazette; “value of gift” is to be construed in accordance with section 15; “value of property” is to be construed in accordance with section 15(2); “VCC” means a VCC or variable capital company as defined in section 2(1) of the Variable Capital Companies Act 2018. [42/2001; 4/2003; 24/2004; 44/2007; 11/2013; 5/2014; 21/2014; 44/2018; 40/2019] (2) For the purposes of this Act — (a) property is held by any person if the person holds any interest in it; (b) references to property held by a person include a reference to property vested in the person’s trustee in bankruptcy or liquidator; (c) references to an interest held by a person beneficially in property include a reference to an interest which would be held by the person beneficially if the property were not so vested in the person’s trustee in bankruptcy or liquidator; (d) property is transferred by one person to another if the first person transfers or grants to the other any interest in the property; (e) proceedings for an offence are instituted in Singapore when a person is produced and charged in court with the offence; (f) proceedings in Singapore for a drug dealing offence or a serious offence (as the case may be) are concluded on the occurrence of one of the following events: (i) the discontinuance of the proceedings; (ii) the acquittal of the defendant; (iii) the quashing of the defendant’s conviction for the offence; (iv) the grant of the President’s pardon in respect of the defendant’s conviction for the offence; (v) the satisfaction of a confiscation order made in the proceedings (whether by payment of the amount due under the order or by the defendant serving imprisonment in default); and (g) an order is subject to appeal as long as an appeal or further appeal is pending against the order or (if it was made on a conviction) against the conviction; and for this purpose, an appeal or further appeal is to be treated as pending (where one is competent but has not been brought) until the expiration of the time for bringing the appeal. [21/2014] Meaning of “item subject to legal privilege” 3.—(1) For the purposes of this Act, an item is subject to legal privilege if — (a) it is a communication made between a lawyer and a client, or a legal counsel acting as such and his or her employer, in connection with the lawyer giving legal advice to the client or the legal counsel giving legal advice to the employer, as the case may be; (b) it is a communication made between 2 or more lawyers acting for a client, or 2 or more legal counsel acting as such for their employer, in connection with one or more of the lawyers giving legal advice to the client or one or more of the legal counsel giving legal advice to the employer, as the case may be; (c) it is a communication made — (i) between a client, or an employer of a legal counsel, and another person; (ii) between a lawyer acting for a client and either the client or another person; or (iii) between a legal counsel acting as such for his or her employer and either the employer or another person, in connection with, and for the purposes of, any legal proceedings (including anticipated or pending legal proceedings) in which the client or employer (as the case may be) is or may be, or was or might have been, a party; (d) it is an item, or a document (including its contents), that is enclosed with or referred to in any communication in paragraph (a) or (b) and that is made or prepared by any person in connection with a lawyer or legal counsel, or one or more of the lawyers or legal counsel, in either paragraph giving legal advice to the client or the employer of the legal counsel, as the case may be; or (e) it is an item, or a document (including its contents), that is enclosed with or referred to in any communication in paragraph (c) and that is made or prepared by any person in connection with, and for the purposes of, any legal proceedings (including anticipated or pending legal proceedings) in which the client or the employer of the legal counsel (as the case may be) is or may be, or was or might have been, a party, but it is not any such communication, item or document that is made, prepared or held with the intention of furthering a criminal purpose. [21/2014] (2) In this section — “client”, in relation to a lawyer, includes an agent of or other person representing a client and, if a client has died, a personal representative of the client; “employer”, in relation to a legal counsel, includes — (a) if the employer is one of a number of corporations that are related to each other under section 6 of the Companies Act 1967 — every corporation so related as if the legal counsel is also employed by each of the related corporations; (b) if the employer is a public agency within the meaning of section 128A(6) of the Evidence Act 1893 and the legal counsel is required as part of his or her duties of employment or appointment to provide legal advice or assistance in connection with the application of the law or any form of resolution of legal dispute to any other public agency or agencies — the other public agency or agencies as if the legal counsel is also employed by the other public agency or each of the other public agencies; and (c) an employee or officer of the employer; “lawyer” means an advocate and solicitor, and includes an interpreter or other person who works under the supervision of an advocate and solicitor; “legal counsel” means a legal counsel as defined in section 3(7) of the Evidence Act 1893, and includes an interpreter or other person who works under the supervision of a legal counsel. [2A [21/2014] Application 4.—(1) This Act applies to any drug dealing offence or foreign drug dealing offence whether committed before or after 30 November 1993. [21/2014] (2) Nothing in this Act imposes any duty or confer any power on any court in or in connection with any proceedings under this Act against a person for a drug dealing offence in respect of which the person has been convicted by a court before 30 November 1993. [21/2014] (3) This Act applies to any serious offence or foreign serious offence whether committed before or after 13 September 1999. (4) Nothing in this Act imposes any duty or confers any power on any court in connection with any proceedings under this Act against a person for a serious offence in respect of which the person has been convicted by a court before 13 September 1999. (5) This Act applies to any property, whether it is situated in Singapore or elsewhere. [3 Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office 5.—(1) There is to be an office of the Government called the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office which is responsible for — (a) the receipt and analysis of — (i) any thing disclosed to a Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer pursuant to a requirement under subsection (3) or pursuant to section 45(1); (ii) any report under section 60 given to a Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer under section 60(4) or forwarded to a Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer under section 61; (iii) any report under section 62 given to a Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer under section 62(4); (iv) any cash transaction report submitted to a Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer under section 68(1); (v) any cash transaction report filed with a Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer under any regulations made under section 200 of the Casino Control Act 2006; (vi) any cash transaction report submitted to a Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer under section 17 of the Precious Stones and Precious Metals (Prevention of Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing and Proliferation Financing) Act 2019; [Act 19 of 2023 wef 01/04/2024] [Act 6 of 2024 wef 01/05/2024] (vii) any cash transaction report submitted to a Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer under section 74A of the Pawnbrokers Act 2015; [Act 24 of 2024 wef 14/11/2024] (viii) any information accessed by a Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer under section 28L(4) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022; [Act 19 of 2023 wef 01/04/2024] [Act 24 of 2024 wef 14/11/2024] (ix) any information disclosed to a Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer under section 16A of the Free Trade Zones Act 1966; [Act 24 of 2024 wef 14/11/2024] (x) any information disclosed to a Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer under section 6 of the Goods and Services Tax Act 1993; [Act 24 of 2024 wef 14/11/2024] (xi) any information disclosed to a Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer under section 6 of the Income Tax Act 1947; and [Act 24 of 2024 wef 14/11/2024] (xii) any information disclosed to a Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer under section 31 of the Regulation of Imports and Exports Act 1995; and [Act 24 of 2024 wef 14/11/2024] (b) subject to any prohibition or restriction under any written law, the dissemination of the results of any such analysis. [Act 24 of 2024 wef 14/11/2024] [21/2014; 7/2019] (2) There is to be attached to the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office such number of Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officers as appear to the Minister to be necessary for the performance of the responsibilities of the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office. [21/2014] (3) A Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer who is attached to the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office may require any person to disclose any document or information for the purposes of an analysis mentioned in subsection (1). [21/2014] (4) Where a person discloses any document or information to a Suspicious Transaction Reporting Officer pursuant to a requirement under subsection (3) — (a) the disclosure is not to be treated as a breach of any restriction against the disclosure imposed by law, contract or rules of professional conduct; and (b) the person shall not be liable for any loss arising out of the disclosure or any act or omission in consequence of the disclosure. [3A [21/2014]