Jail for Singaporean man who ‘rented out’ his bank account that received crime benefits of over S$3.3mil

SINGAPORE: In need of money to settle his loans, a man agreed to “rent out” his bank account which was later used to receive more than S$3.3 million.

Kong Juu Wenn, who found out that the account would be used to facilitate transactions linked to illegal online gambling activities, received $1,800 as a reward.

On Wednesday (March 19), the 34-year-old was sentenced to a year and nine months’ jail after he pleaded guilty to one count of dealing with the benefits of criminal conduct.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Yee Jia Rong told the court that Kong, who needed money to pay his bank loans, also took loans from unlicensed moneylenders.

The amounts involved were not disclosed in court documents.

Around mid-2022, he came across an advertisement on messaging platform Telegram, seeking persons who were interested in “renting out” their bank accounts.

The contact details of a person known as “Mars” were in the post. When Kong got in touch with Mars, he was told that he would be paid $600 a month for every bank account.

On July 8, 2022, Kong opened a bank account and shared its details with Mars via WhatsApp.

Between July and November that year, more than $3.3 million was deposited into the account before most of the money was taken out.

Kong was paid $600 per month from August to October 2022, but did not receive any more money after that.

Court documents do not reveal how his offence came to light and he was charged in court in 2025.

His bail was set at $15,000 on March 19 and he is expected to begin serving his sentence on April 2. – The Straits Times/ANN