What is criminal breach of trust?
Criminal breach of trust (“CBT”) is defined in section 405 of the Penal Code 1871 (“PC”). In essence, a person commits CBT if he or she has been entrusted with property, or with control over it (the PC calls this “dominion”), and then does one of the following:
- dishonestly misappropriates the property, or converts it to his or her own use;
- dishonestly uses or disposes of the property in breach of a legal direction, or of a contract, governing how it is to be dealt with; or
- intentionally allows another person to do any of these things.
There is one definition, and four punishment provisions:
- CBT by any person (section 406 of the PC). This is the basic offence, sometimes called “CBT simpliciter”.
- CBT by a carrier or warehouse operator (section 407 of the PC). This covers property entrusted for transportation for hire, or for storage for rent or a charge.
- CBT by an employee (section 408 of the PC). “Employee” includes a person engaged in a capacity with the same essential features as employment, whether paid or unpaid.
- CBT by a public servant, a person in a trade or profession, a director, an officer of an unincorporated association, a partner, a key executive or a fiduciary (section 409 of the PC). This is the most serious form. It covers, among others, bankers, merchants, brokers, attorneys and agents acting in the way of business, company directors, and fiduciaries such as executors, administrators, liquidators, receivers and trustees.
CBT is often charged together with other offences: typically money laundering charges for using, moving or spending the money (see our page on money laundering offences), charges of falsifying accounts or forgery, and sometimes charges of giving false evidence.
What is the maximum punishment?
| Offence | Section | Maximum punishment for an individual |
|---|---|---|
| CBT by any person | PC s 406 | Imprisonment up to 7 years, a fine, or both |
| CBT by a carrier or warehouse operator (property entrusted for transportation for hire or storage for rent or a charge) | PC s 407 | Imprisonment up to 15 years; a fine may be added |
| CBT by an employee, including a person in an employee-like capacity, paid or unpaid | PC s 408 | Imprisonment up to 15 years; a fine may be added |
| CBT by a public servant, a person in a trade or profession, a director, an officer of an unincorporated association, a partner, a key executive or a fiduciary | PC s 409 | Imprisonment up to 20 years; a fine may be added |
Under sections 407 to 409 of the PC, a sentence of imprisonment must be imposed (although there is no minimum term), and a fine may be added to it. Only under section 406 may a fine be the only punishment.
Note. The court in which the case is heard also limits the sentence. A District Court cannot impose more than 10 years’ imprisonment for a single offence, and a Magistrate’s Court cannot impose more than three years (section 303 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010 (“CPC”)). The maximum sentences of 15 and 20 years under sections 407 to 409 of the PC can therefore be imposed only by the High Court. In practice, a case in which the Prosecution seeks a sentence above 10 years is heard in the High Court.
What are the recent changes to the law?
Criminal Law Reform Act 2019 (from 1 January 2020)
The present wording of sections 407 to 409 of the PC took effect on 1 January 2020, when the Criminal Law Reform Act 2019 came into force:
- Carriers and warehouse operators (section 407). Before 1 January 2020, the predecessor provision in section 407 of the PC referred to a “carrier, wharfinger or warehouse-keeper”. The maximum punishment, imprisonment up to 15 years with a fine that may be added, was the same.
- Employees (section 408). Before 1 January 2020, the predecessor provision in section 408 of the PC referred to a “clerk or servant”. The maximum punishment, imprisonment up to 15 years with a fine that may be added, was the same.
- Directors and others (section 409). Before 1 January 2020, the predecessor provision in section 409 of the PC covered a public servant, or a banker, merchant, factor, broker, attorney or agent in the way of business. Its maximum punishment was imprisonment for life, or imprisonment up to 20 years, with a fine that may be added. In 2017, in the City Harvest case (Public Prosecutor v Lam Leng Hung and other appeals [2017] 4 SLR 474), the High Court held that “agent” in the predecessor provision meant a professional agent offering agency services to the public, so that company directors and church leaders who misappropriated their organisation’s funds could be convicted only under section 406 of the PC. The Court of Appeal agreed in 2018 (Public Prosecutor v Lam Leng Hung and others [2018] 1 SLR 659). The Criminal Law Reform Act 2019 then rewrote section 409, with effect from 1 January 2020, to cover directors, partners, key executives and fiduciaries expressly, and removed life imprisonment. A director’s misappropriation before 1 January 2020 therefore remains chargeable only under section 406; misappropriation by a director from that date falls under section 409.
What else can follow a conviction?
Victims frequently pursue civil claims at the same time as the prosecution, and a civil judgment may itself bring about repayment, as in a 2026 case involving $15.8 million (Public Prosecutor v Ong Siew Kwee and others [2026] SGDC 299). Money traced to the offence may be seized and become the subject of disposal or confiscation proceedings (see our page on frozen bank accounts).
Directors may be disqualified from acting as directors, including automatically after a conviction for an offence involving fraud or dishonesty. Professionals may face disciplinary proceedings, and foreign nationals may face immigration consequences.