After 11 persons are caught in 5 days, ICA reminds travellers to declare when bringing cash exceeding S$20,000

SINGAPORE: After numerous travellers were recently caught moving large amounts of money into and out of Singapore without proper declaration, the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) issued a reminder to the public.

“Remember to declare if you’re carrying: cash exceeding S$20,000 (or equivalent in foreign currencies), overseas purchases that exceed duty-free and GST relief limits, or e-vaporisers and other prohibited or controlled items,” ICA said in an Oct 19 Facebook post.

While there are no restrictions on the amount of cash or Bearer Negotiable Instruments (CBNIs) that can be moved into or out of Singapore, if the total value exceeds S$20,000, or its equivalent in foreign currency, it is mandatory to declare it, meaning that it’s necessary to report the cross-border physical movement of CBNIs.

Travellers must submit an electronic declaration within 72 hours before entering or leaving Singapore via MyICA mobile app or ICA’s website.

The ICA, as well as officers from the police, customs and the Health Sciences Authority, carried out enforcement operations from Oct 9 to 15 at land, air, and sea checkpoints to detect and enforce against non-compliance with Singapore’s Cross-Border Cash Reporting Regime (CBCRR) and other illegal cross-border smuggling activities. This is carried out to curb money laundering, terrorist financing and other criminal activities.

The agencies said in a joint press statement that 11 travellers who were moving more than S$20,000 in cash, or its equivalent in foreign currencies, in or out of Singapore, had been apprehended.

One was a 52-year-old man who was bringing more than MYR 70,000 (S$21,504) into Singapore on Oct 10. On the following day, four men between the ages of 45 and 60 were separately detected moving cash of various currencies amounting to S$42,337 into the city-state.

Two days later, three men aged between 38 and 44, and a woman, 37, were separately detected moving cash of various currencies amounting to S$1,249,666 into Singapore. They had made either an inadequate or no declaration.

Finally, on Oct 14, two men aged 34 and 41 were separately caught moving cash in various currencies amounting to S$43,604 and S$50,000 into Singapore without declaration.

All the individuals above are foreign nationals. Among them, four were issued Notices of Warning, while six were issued with composition sums amounting to S$24,000. As for the remaining traveller, the agencies said that investigations are still ongoing. /TISG

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