SG is money-laundering hub

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Former Swiss banker admits helping wealthy US taxpayers hide assets in Singapore and elsewhere​

Rolf Schnellmann admitted on Dec 21 that he participated in a tax fraud conspiracy, United States prosecutors said. PHOTO: REUTERS

DEC 22, 2023

NEW YORK - A former executive at a Swiss financial services company pleaded guilty to charges that he helped wealthy US taxpayers hide millions of dollars in offshore bank accounts.
Rolf Schnellmann is one of six people charged in September 2021 with assisting an unidentified hedge fund manager and two other US taxpayers to shield US$60 million (S$79.5 million) in assets.
He admitted on Dec 21 that he participated in a tax fraud conspiracy, United States prosecutors said. He faces as much as five years in prison at sentencing, which is scheduled for July.
Schnellmann, 61, is the former head of Allied Finance Trust, a Zurich-based unit of the Allied Finance Group in Liechtenstein.
Prosecutors said he and his co-conspirators defrauded the US Internal Revenue Service by hiding the clients’ assets in undeclared bank accounts at Privatbank IHAG Zurich from 2008 to 2014.
The US started an amnesty programme more than a decade ago to allow taxpayers to avoid prosecution by declaring hidden assets and paying a fine and back taxes.
Tens of thousands of Americans took advantage of the programme, but a small fraction instead moved money from Swiss accounts to other locales, including Singapore and Hong Kong.


Prosecutors said the bankers in the case used a scheme called the Singapore Solution, in which the funds were transferred through accounts in other jurisdictions, and then sent to Switzerland in newly opened accounts nominally held by a Singapore-based asset manager.
They later moved the funds back to Singapore when they feared the plan was at risk of being uncovered, according to the government.
Prosecutors said the clients paid “large fees” to IHAG and others to help them hide their funds and assets and avoid paying taxes.
Most of the concealed assets in the case belonged to a Manhattan hedge fund manager identified in the indictment as Client-1.
The account had actually been created by Client-1’s father in the 1960s, but passed to Client-1 upon the father’s death.
After that, Client-1’s family accessed the funds through semi-annual trips to Zurich, where they would withdraw hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and carry or mail it back to the US. BLOOMBERG

 

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As Singapore Police Probe Money Laundering Ring, a Private Equity Entrepreneur Disappears​

Credit: The Straits Times
by Martin Young, Tom Allard, Yan Yan (OCCRP), and The Straits Times
22 December 2023

The founder of an Asian private equity firm has disappeared from his Singapore home and workplace as police sought to question him in connection to an alleged $2-billion money laundering ring busted in August this year, a Straits Times/OCCRP investigation has found.
Su Binghai, an entrepreneur of Chinese origin, is a “person of interest” in an ongoing investigation into the alleged laundering ring, a source familiar with the case told the Straits Times.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not provide further details. Su Binghai has not been formally named as a suspect, which does not happen in Singapore until after an arrest.
Corporate registry data shows that Su Binghai founded the private equity outfit New Future International in 2017. He became a co-owner of the firm the following year along with Wang Dehai, one of 10 people arrested by Singapore police during the bust on August 15.
Two other New Future International directors, Su Bingwang and Su Fuxiang, are also “persons of interest,” said the source, without adding details. (It is not clear if the three Sus are part of the same family, but the three often cited the same residential address in their Hong Kong corporate filings.)
None of the Sus could be reached for comment.
Singapore’s August raids on the alleged money laundering ring sent shockwaves through the country’s political elite, and have raised questions about how lax regulations and an easily exploited residency program have contributed to a flood of dirty money into the Southeast Asian financial hub. Most of those arrested lived in upmarket areas, and many belonged to prestigious golf clubs.
Headquartered in Hong Kong, Su Binghai’s New Future has a Singapore-based offshoot and multiple subsidiaries. The company maintains offices in both cities and its website showcases a portfolio of countries and industries in which the company says it invests, though it does not provide details and reporters could find no public record of any specific investments it has made. Police have not said that New Future is subject to investigation.
The owners of New Future have been obscured since 2019, when its ownership entity was shifted from Hong Kong to the British Virgin Islands, a tax haven with high levels of corporate secrecy.
Su Binghai, who remains a director of New Future, holds multiple passports and an entree into elite social circles in Hong Kong and Singapore. He, Su Bingwang, and Su Fuxiang, each own tens of millions of dollars worth of property around the world.
When a Straits Times reporter visited Su Binghai’s Singapore residence this month, a domestic worker said that more than 10 uniformed police had visited the property in September, just weeks after the raids, looking for her employer. But Su Binghai and his wife had already left the home and did not say where they were going or when they would return, she added. The worker identified Su Binghai from a photo and confirmed he was her boss.

Credit: The Straits TimesSu Binghai's Singapore residence.
Another domestic worker answered the phone at a Dubai number registered to Su Binghai, and told OCCRP that “Mr Su” was not there. She was unable to provide information on his whereabouts.
Like Su Binghai, the two other New Future directors suddenly left their Singapore homes and workplaces in September, two colleagues and a neighbor told the Straits Times. (Singapore’s police did not respond to requests for comment about the Sus’ links to Wang Dehai or whether they had left the country.)
The plush home of one of the company’s directors, Su Bingwang, is located on Singapore’s Rochalie Drive, close to embassies and other grand homes. When the Straits Times visited this month, it was empty.
A neighbor confirmed that a Su Bingwang had lived there for about a year, and added that movers had turned up in September to remove items from the home. The home is currently being advertised on real estate websites as a rental for $33,800 per month.
When the Straits Times visited New Future’s Singapore office on December 1, a staff member asked unprompted if the reporter was there about “the money laundering case.”
“Is this about the Sus? I am not sure they will want to speak to you,” the employee added.
The staff member, who asked not to be identified, confirmed that Su Binghai and Su Fuxiang were involved in the firm and were frequent visitors to the Singapore office, but hadn’t been seen there “for a while.”
On a second visit on December 13, the employee affirmed that both men worked at the Singapore office, adding they had not been seen since September. The employee declined to respond to questions about where the two were.
New Future International did not respond to questions about the Sus and its operations. Wang Dehai’s lawyer did not respond to questions.
More than 150 properties have been confiscated by Singapore authorities in connection with the crackdown on the alleged money laundering ring so far. Some 68 gold bars, cryptocurrencies, millions in cash, 546 pieces of jewelry, and 62 vehicles were also impounded during the raids.

Online, Then on the Run​

Even before he fell afoul of Singapore authorities, Wang Dehai was a wanted man. In February 2018, Chinese authorities published an arrest warrant alleging he was involved in illegal gaming.
Along with Wang, two others arrested in Singapore in August had a background in online gaming. According to authorities, this was not a coincidence: A large amount of the funds laundered in Singapore, police said, was generated by online casinos and telecommunications scam factories.
Southeast Asia is in the midst of a lucrative cybercrime spree, much of it targeting Chinese citizens. China’s Ministry of Public Security has estimated illegal gambling by mainland Chinese amounts to 1 trillion yuan a year, or about $140 billion.
The scam and online casino industry in Cambodia alone has been estimated to be worth between $7.5 billion and $12.5 billion a year, Jeremy Douglas, head of Southeast Asia operations at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, told OCCRP.
Wang was at the forefront of the online gambling revolution in the region, working in the Philippines between 2012 and 2016, according to media accounts of court testimony he has given since his arrest. The industry was legal in the Philippines but, because the casinos targeted bettors in China where gambling is illegal, he was breaking Chinese laws.
Just a few months after Wang’s 2018 Chinese arrest warrant was publicized on police social media accounts, he and Su Binghai incorporated a company called Yuen Zheng Holding Limited, splitting ownership equally, Hong Kong corporate registry data shows.
That same year, Yuen Zheng took over 100 percent of the shares of New Future International Limited, the private equity firm which Su Binghai had founded a year earlier.
In 2019, New Future was again taken over by another company registered in the British Virgin Islands: “Yuan Zheng Holding Limited,” which is spelled exactly the same as the Hong Kong entity’s Chinese characters in standard pinyin transliteration. Because of the territory’s corporate secrecy rules, it was not possible to determine who owns Yuan Zheng. (Su Binghai and Wang Dehai’s Hong Kong-based company, Yuen Zheng, was dissolved in 2021.)
Despite the change of the ownership entity, the three Sus remain directors of New Future, according to a 2023 corporate filing in Hong Kong. Singapore corporate records also show Su Binghai and Su Fuxiang are the majority shareholders of New Future’s Singapore subsidiary. Su Binghai, meanwhile, features prominently on New Future’s corporate website, where he is pictured sitting at the center of a group of suited professionals.

Credit: New Future InternationalScreenshot of New Future International's website showing Su Binghai seated at center.
New Future’s Singapore arm also nominated Wang Dehai for membership of the deluxe Sentosa Golf Club, according to a list of defaulting members reviewed by the Straits Times this month.
The three Sus are all natives of Anxi County, an inland mountainous area of Fujian province on China’s southeastern coast. Otherwise known only for its tea plantations, Anxi has become a hotbed of online scams and illegal gambling.
The Sus also hold multiple passports. All three are citizens of Cambodia, and at least two — Su Binghai and Su Fuxiang — hold citizenship of the Caribbean nation of St. Kitts and Nevis. Su Binghai also listed a Vanuatu passport in the documents seen by reporters.
They have used these citizenships to set up dozens of companies in Hong Kong and Singapore. Many of those in Hong Kong reported just one Hong Kong dollar in registered capital, the minimum required to set up a company.

Sudden Rise of the Sus​

New Future does not publish financial results, but boasts on its corporate website that “the Founding Partners have, separately or jointly as co-investors, made over $2 billion of private equity investments in Greater China during the five-year period prior to founding New Future.”
The website also lists a portfolio of industries — including “Environmental Material Technology and Applications,” “Digital Mobile Payment Service,” and “VR Immersive Solutions” — in which it says it invests in Hong Kong, China, Singapore, and Indonesia. But it does not provide details of those investments and reporters could find no evidence of them in public records.
In Hong Kong company registries, the three Sus list high-end residential addresses as their correspondence addresses. In Singapore, the last known addresses for both Su Binghai and Su Bingwang were ultra-luxury bungalows — Su Bingwang’s just a stone’s throw from embassies and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Credit: The Straits TimesSu Bingwang’s Singapore residence.
Su Binghai bought a Hong Kong luxury flat for $13.8 million in late 2017. In the U.K., Su Binghai is also listed as the founding shareholder of two active holding companies, Su Empire Limited and Su Group Limited.
The three Sus also appear to have splashed out significant sums on prestige and personal status.
Rubbing shoulders with Hong Kong’s elite at the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Su Binghai is listed as a registered member of “Gin,” “Happy Mission,” and “The Easy Ride” –– syndicates that offer joint ownership of racehorses.
In Singapore, the Sus are members of at least one expensive golf club and have been top donors to several charitable causes, including a 2022 golf event organized by the Singapore Disability Sports Council.
Su Fuxiang helped sponsor a classical music concert in May attended by the country’s deputy prime minister, Heng Swee Keat, in the prestigious Esplanade Hall. The concert, held by the Orchestra of the Music Makers, would make Singapore a “more refined, sophisticated and vibrant place to live,” Su Fuxiang said in the program notes.
A spokesperson for the charity said Su Fuxiang had cleared its due diligence process.
“He said he was keen to set up a foundation to increase his contributions to the community after settling down with his family in Singapore for more than three years,” he said.
Orchestra of the Music Makers is in the process of lodging a precautionary suspicious transaction report regarding the donation, the spokesperson added.

 

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Money mule hiring spree goes digital as crime syndicates turn to Telegram​

With the popularity of platforms like Telegram, syndicates have been able to hire foot soldiers with ease, and money mule numbers are on the rise. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO

Aqil Hamzah

DEC 28, 2023

SINGAPORE - The job applicants are promised at least $500 a month, and the process of filling in the forms with personal information is painless, except for the part asking for confidential banking details.
Employers usually will not ask applicants to divulge the 16-digit number of their automated teller machine (ATM) card, including the confidential personal identification number (PIN), and details like their mother’s maiden name.
But getting such information this way is not part of a scam. However, it is part of a recruitment process for money mules – people who allow criminals to control their bank accounts or help them perform illegal transactions.
With the popularity of messaging platforms like Telegram, which allow people to be anonymous, syndicates have been able to hire foot soldiers with ease, and money mule numbers are on the rise.
In 2019, the number of people arrested or investigated by the police for money mule offences was more than 1,000.
The next year, it went up four times to more than 4,800 people.
In 2021, the numbers shot up, when more than 7,500 people were rounded up. In 2022, more than 7,800 people were nabbed for money mule offences.

Between January and June in 2023, more than 4,700 people were arrested or investigated for being money mules.
A study by the Singapore Police Force in 2023 involving 113 money mules linked to scam cases reported between 2020 and 2022 found that about 45 per cent were 25 years old and younger.
In April 2023, Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling said it was worrying to see so many people – some as young as 10 – getting arrested for being money mules.

Getting them young​

Platforms like Telegram – popular with young people – are quickly becoming favourites with recruiters of money mules, who appear to have stepped up efforts to enlist new helpers.
Over the course of a week in November, The Straits Times observed many advertisements being circulated all day in several Telegram groups and channels known for peddling illegal services, sometimes in a span of just minutes.
The ads do not waste time with code words – and instead openly ask for bank accounts to “rent”. The amount that money mules stand to earn and the recruiter’s username are also included in the ad.
SPH Brightcove Video

Posing as an interested party, ST contacted two such recruiters, who both said they were merely functioning as intermediaries, and that the bank accounts were to be used by third parties.
When asked why there was a need to rent bank accounts, one recruiter said these were for sellers of electronic vaporisers – which are illegal in Singapore – and those running illegal gambling activities to move their funds.
He added that some of his clients using the accounts were likely money launderers, but he declined to elaborate.
In some cases, the recruiter said, he would also work with loan sharks to find out which debtors were desperately in need of cash. Once he got their phone numbers, he would offer to bail them out with a cash loan, in exchange for access to their bank accounts.
Rentals could either be for the long term, which meant a month at the least, or on a short-term basis, lasting a week.
Once the time was up, money mules would regain full ownership of their bank accounts. To ensure peace of mind, it was recommended that they change either their PIN or phone numbers with the bank.
Short-term rentals were used for more risky transactions like money laundering, but they earned higher payouts of at least $1,000. However, there was a price – the added risk of having the bank account frozen.
The recruiter recommended long-term rentals instead, which could net at least $500 a month in earnings.
Payment also depended on which banks the account belonged to, among other things.

A recruiter detailing the breakdown of payments to money mules depending on the bank accounts they had. PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM TELEGRAM
“Some banks are stricter,” the recruiter said. They have more safeguards in place, and that makes them worth less, added the recruiter, who has almost two years of experience in enlisting money mules.
OCBC Bank is one example of a “stricter” bank, he said. When adding recipients for money transfers, it takes at least 12 hours before the approval comes through and the money can be transferred.
Another consideration is convenience, so banks that have fewer ATMs command a lower price because it takes more trouble to deposit money.
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Money mules: Scam syndicates use Telegram to recruit young people for bank and Singpass accounts
‘I just did it for the money’: Why young people become money mules for scammers
Although coy about the amount of money he was earning from recruiting money mules, the recruiter said he “was taking more” than the sum he paid to mules.
These payments are usually made in instalments, either at the end of the short-term rental, or each week for long-term ones.
The recruiter said he would give the mules guidance if any of the bank accounts rented out were frozen, but other recruiters may not do so.
Another recruiter, for instance, advised this reporter to “come up with an excuse” if a bank account is frozen. He added that feigning ignorance is one means of escape for a money mule when things get sticky.
The authorities closed that loophole in May, when the law was tightened to clamp down on money mules and those who sell their bank accounts or Singpass credentials.
The new rules widened the scope of illegal operations to include rash and negligent money laundering, among other things.
Rash money laundering is when the money mule is aware or has some idea that his actions involve a criminal element. Anyone convicted of the offence faces up to five years in jail, a fine of up to $250,000, or both.
Negligent money laundering is when a person continues with a transaction despite the red flags that any ordinary, reasonable person would have noticed.
Those found guilty of the offence can be jailed for up to three years, fined up to $150,000, or both.

Money mules can also no longer claim they did not know they were selling their bank or Singpass accounts to scammers.
The tougher laws were passed after it was clear that only a few money mules were prosecuted for their actions.
Between 2020 and 2022, the police investigated more than 19,000 money mule cases, but only 236 people were prosecuted, due to the difficulty of proving that they intended to facilitate criminal activities by selling their bank accounts and Singpass credentials.
While they may not be directly involved in making criminal transactions, recruiters are not exempt from the law, said Mr Thong Chee Kun, the co-head of law firm Rajah & Tann’s fraud, asset recovery and investigations practice.
He said: “With more involved roles in the criminal syndicates, they are often punished more harshly than the account holders themselves.”
He added that they could be liable for a range of offences, with money laundering being one of them.

ST ILLUSTRATION: CEL GULAPA

What banks are doing​

Banks, on the other hand, generally will not be held responsible, with strict regulations in place to police money laundering.
They also report suspicious transactions to the authorities, said Mr Thong.
Once the banks receive an order from the authorities, they can then freeze bank accounts, with the financial institutions also adopting a proactive approach.
OCBC, for instance, works closely with the police, with a team from the bank permanently stationed on-site at the police’s Anti-Scam Centre.
This way, fraudulent transactions are flagged more quickly, and then get blocked swiftly, said Mr Beaver Chua, head of anti-fraud at OCBC’s group financial crime compliance department.

Five other banks also have employees stationed there, including UOB and DBS.
UOB declined to provide details, citing operational sensitivities.
DBS Bank said it set up a separate anti-mule team in September, with the aim of tackling the problem at its source.
The head of the team, Mr Chris Huang, said it adopts a “pre-emptive approach of identifying and removing bad actors from the ecosystem even before they strike”.
The team comprises investigative specialists who specialise in “hunting down and eradicating money mules”.
In its second month, it worked alongside the police in an islandwide operation against money mules, resulting in the arrest of four men and one woman for their suspected involvement in scam cases.
More than $680,000 was seized during the course of the week-long operation.
In identifying potential money mules, Mr Huang said his team looks out for a few red flags, including unusual transaction patterns and withdrawals that do not measure up with the customer’s profile.
For instance, when someone without a high income makes a series of high-value deposits and withdrawals several days in a row, it will set off warning bells.
So why do people want to sign on for such a risky job? “The lure of quick cash is definitely one of the biggest reasons,” said Mr Huang.
“Some also have the misconception that if they are not directly involved in the crimes that generate the money, they are not committing an offence. However, it is illegal to sell accounts to criminals for fast cash,” he added.

 

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DBS puts up shophouses for sale to recover loans amid money laundering probe​

The row of shophouses (from left) at 55, 56, 57 and 58 Amoy Street. Its tenancy has been renewed for another three years from 2023. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

Joyce Lim
Senior Correspondent

JAN 28, 2024

SINGAPORE – Ten shophouses owned by two Chinese nationals who were reportedly linked to an accused person in the $3 billion money laundering case have been put on the market by DBS Bank as it seeks to recover repayments of its loans.
The properties – estimated by observers to be valued at more than $100 million combined – were separately bought under Singapore-incorporated companies – Jiasheng Amoy and Suyh – wholly owned by Mr Su Binghai and Mr Su Fuxiang, respectively.
Checks by The Sunday Times in December 2023 found that both men, who are of interest to the police, left Singapore abruptly amid the anti-money laundering probe in 2023.
Information from the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra) showed that DBS placed both firms into receivership in September 2023, after the owners failed to make debt payments.
DBS declined to comment when asked about the factors that led it to place the two firms into receivership.
The bank’s probe into the loans started in 2022, soon after the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) launched investigations into a former Citibank employee for forgery-related offences in October 2021, and before a massive islandwide blitz led by the CAD that involved more than 400 officers.
The Government in October 2023 revealed that money laundering investigations had started in 2021, after the authorities became aware of the use of suspected forged documents to substantiate sources of funds in bank accounts in Singapore.

Mr Martin Wong of FTI Consulting was appointed as the receiver of both firms.
On Dec 1, 2023, FTI placed three separate advertisements in The Business Times, calling for expression of interest for 10 shophouses in Telok Ayer Street (one unit), Amoy Street (four units) and Geylang Road (five units).
BT reported on Jan 26 that three adjoining shophouses at 4, 5 and 6 Stanley Street in Chinatown, owned by Aalto Group, have also been put up for sale by tender at a guiding price of $61.6 million.

Aalto Group, a holding company whose sole director is Mr Su Fuxiang, has been placed in receivership and Knight Frank Singapore is marketing the units on behalf of the receiver, KPMG Services, appointed by DBS in September 2023. A mortgage under DBS was lodged in 2021.
When contacted, Mr Wong of FTI declined to comment on the receivership or status of the properties, citing confidentiality.
“Regrettably, this is confidential information, which I am not at liberty to share, save that interest in these properties exceeded my expectations,” he told ST.
Market observers said about 30 parties submitted offers for the 10 shophouse units listed by FTI before the deadline on Jan 15, 2024.
A property title search showed that in 2021, Jiasheng Amoy bought the 999-year leasehold three-storey unit at 182 Telok Ayer Street and four adjoining units of two-storey shophouses from 55 to 58 Amoy Street.
Mr Su Binghai is the sole director and shareholder of Jiasheng Amoy, according to Acra records.
ST reported in December 2023 that he was found to have business dealings with Cypriot national Wang Dehai, who is originally from China and has been charged with money laundering here.
Wang is a wanted man in China over his alleged links to an online gaming syndicate.

Singapore Land Authority records showed that Suyh bought the five adjoining units at 236 to 244 Geylang Road in 2021.
Mr Su Fuxiang, an associate of Mr Su Binghai, is the sole director and shareholder of Suyh, Acra records showed.
The units in Geylang are occupied by a coffee shop, a hairdressing salon, a Chinese restaurant and a tattoo shop.
An employee at the Chinese restaurant said he was not aware that the property had been put up for sale.

The units in Geylang are currently occupied by a coffeeshop, a hairdressing salon, a Chinese restaurant and a tattoo shop. ST PHOTO: JOYCE LIM
A Korean restaurant – Oven & Fried Chicken – currently occupies the unit in Telok Ayer Street, while fashion retailer Little Match Girl occupies units 55 and 56 in Amoy Street. The other two units are currently vacant.
Mr Can Heng, who runs Little Match Girl, said he renewed his tenancy for another three years from 2023. He declined to say whether he had done so before or after he was informed of the receivership in 2023.
The owner of a Vietnamese restaurant that had occupied the two now vacant units did not renew his tenancy and moved out towards the end of 2023, Mr Heng said.
“Recently, many people came to view the property, so I am not surprised that it was put up for sale. I believe whoever is buying the property will continue to honour the tenancy agreement,” he added.
Mr Heng was already operating from the unit before Jiasheng Amoy bought it in 2021.

A Korean restaurant - Oven & Fried Chicken - currently occupies the unit in Telok Ayer Street. ST PHOTO: JOYCE LIM
Market observers noted that FTI’s listings of the 10 shophouses did not indicate a guiding price. They estimated them to be valued at more than $100 million combined.
Mr Richard Tan, founder of PropNex Shophouse Elites, which specialises in that market segment, said: “Based on the current market rate, all 10 units could be worth around $120 million.”
Some property agents told ST they have been wondering how the shophouses could be put up for sale amid the money laundering probe.
“I tried to ask FTI Consulting, but they said that they do not engage with agents. So I told my clients to submit their offers themselves,” said Mr Tan.

At least 10 foreigners have been arrested in Singapore’s largest anti-money laundering operations, with assets seized worth more than $3 billion.
The assets confiscated include 207 properties, 77 vehicles, money in bank accounts amounting to more than $1.45 billion, and cash in various currencies that are worth more than $76 million.
The properties are owned by individuals under investigation. Some of the properties are owned by the spouses or companies linked to the suspects.
It was previously reported that major banks including DBS were creditors to investment companies linked to the individuals arrested.
In 2021, the authorities detected signs of potential financial misconduct, including the use of suspected forged documents to validate fund sources in local bank accounts. Financial institutions and other companies filed suspicious transaction reports, prompting police investigations.
By early 2022, a comprehensive intelligence probe revealed an interconnected network of individuals believed to be involved in the alleged activities, with some linked by familial ties.
DBS chief executive Piyush Gupta disclosed that the bank had about $100 million in exposures to the money laundering case, involving mostly property purchases or retail customer accounts used to finance properties.
Checks by ST found that DBS registered two charges on Suyh as early as July 2022, and four charges on Jiasheng Amoy in February 2023, before news of the money laundering case broke in August 2023.
A charge is a form of security interest usually taken by a lender or creditor to secure repayment of a loan.

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Timeline of events:​

October 2021: Former Citibank employee Wang Qiming is investigated by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) for forgery-related offences. Money laundering investigations start after the authorities become aware of the use of suspected forged documents to substantiate sources of funds in bank accounts in Singapore.
Early 2022: Police launch an extensive intelligence probe that uncovers a web of people believed to be connected to one another, with some associated by familial ties.
July 2022: DBS Bank registers two charges on Suyh, owned by Chinese national Su Fuxiang.
February 2023: DBS registers four charges on Jiasheng Amoy, owned by Su Binghai.
Aug 15, 2023: Police conduct a massive islandwide blitz led by the CAD that involves more than 400 officers. Nine men and one woman are arrested and charged the next day with various offences, including money laundering, forgery and resisting arrest.
September 2023: DBS appoints FTI Consulting as the receiver for Jiasheng Amoy and Suyh and takes possession of the assets of the two companies in an attempt to recover mortgage loans.
Dec 1, 2023: FTI puts up 10 shophouses separately owned by the two companies for sale by expression of interest.
Jan 15, 2023: Deadline for the submission of the expression of interest.

 

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7 new charges for money laundering accused who allegedly planned to submit fake marriage cert to MOM​

Su Wenqiang, who is originally from China and holds a Cambodian passport, now faces nine charges in total. PHOTO: CHINA POLICE

Wong Shiying

JAN 29, 2024

SINGAPORE – Su Wenqiang, one of the 10 foreigners accused in Singapore’s largest money laundering case, was handed seven new charges on Jan 29.
Su, 31, who is originally from China and holds a Cambodian passport, now faces nine charges in total.
Six of Su’s new charges accuse him of using around $476,700 in benefits from criminal conduct to buy items such as bags, jewellery and alcohol, and to pay his rent for a landed property and condominium.
He had allegedly derived the illicit proceeds from operating an unlawful remote gambling service based in the Philippines for people in China.
Su’s seventh new charge accuses him of having a forged marriage certificate from China that stated he had registered his marriage with Su Yanping on May 20, 2018, when no such registration had been made.
The charge adds that Su had intended to pass off the certificate as genuine in his dependant’s pass application to the Ministry of Manpower.
Su was one of 10 foreigners arrested on Aug 15, 2023, in an anti-money laundering probe that has now seen more than $3 billion in assets seized. He was nabbed in a good class bungalow in Bukit Timah.

The 10 suspects are (clockwise from top left) Su Baolin, Su Haijin, Chen Qingyuan, Su Wenqiang, Lin Baoying, Zhang Ruijin, Wang Dehai, Su Jianfeng, Vang Shuiming and Wang Baosen. ST ILLUSTRATIONS: CEL GULAPA
He was charged on Aug 16 with possessing $601,706, which is said to represent his benefits from operating the unlawful gambling service.
He was handed another charge on Aug 30 for allegedly buying a Mercedes-Benz AMG C63S car using $500,000 in criminal proceeds.
Su was denied bail on Nov 2.

During the hearing, his lawyer, Mr Sameer Amir Melber, revealed that Su came to Singapore in 2021 with his wife and children, aged five and six, as he wanted his children to be educated here.
Senior investigation officer (SIO) Francis Lim of the Criminal Investigation Department said in an affidavit that Su has been wanted by the Chinese authorities for illegal online gambling activities since 2017.
SIO Lim added that Su was recruited to be an executive at a remote lottery business operating from the Philippines and Cambodia. He was paid in cash.
Su and his accomplices would communicate via WhatsApp and Telegram group chats to discuss their operations, including moving funds from remote gambling websites across borders, said SIO Lim.
In denying Su bail, District Judge Brenda Tan said he is neither a Singapore citizen nor a permanent resident here, and owns passports from Cambodia, China and Vanuatu.

She added that Su’s parents live in China and his family members are foreigners, showing he has no deep roots in Singapore.
The judge noted that Su has accomplices at large who may help him abscond.
The police have seized two vehicles with an estimated value of at least $584,000 in Su Yanping’s name and more than $2 million parked in her bank account.
Su also has substantial wealth overseas, including a house in Xiamen worth around $1.9 million that is registered to Su Yanping.
Su will return to court for a pre-trial conference on Feb 1.

 

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More charges for money laundering accused who allegedly misled MOM to obtain work passes​

Su Wenqiang, who is originally from China and holds passports from Cambodia and Vanuatu, now faces 11 charges in total. PHOTO: CHINA POLICE

Wong Shiying

JAN 31, 2024

SINGAPORE – Two days after he was handed seven new charges, Su Wenqiang, one of the 10 accused in Singapore’s largest money laundering case, was given two more charges on Jan 31.
According to one of the new charges, the 31-year-old had allegedly made a false statement to the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) Controller of Work Passes on Feb 28, 2022, by signing and declaring in an employment pass application that he would be employed as a sales director at Fleur Business Service (FBS) when he had no intention of being hired by the organisation.
The second new charge accuses him of engaging with one “Wen Wen” in February 2022 to make a false statement to the Controller of Work Passes to obtain a work pass for his wife, Su Yanping.
The charge adds that under Su Wenqiang’s alleged instruction, Wen Wen applied for an employment pass on Su Yanping’s behalf and declared that she would be employed as a director of Ju You Family Office (JYFO) even when Su Wenqiang had no plans for Su Yanping to work there.
FBS and JYFO were both registered in 2021 and are described as companies providing management consultancy services, according to Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority records.
Su Wenqiang is not listed on FBS’ business profile, but Su Yanping is listed as having been JYFO’s director since February 2022.
Su Wenqiang, who is originally from China and holds passports from Cambodia and Vanuatu, now faces 11 charges in total.

Eight of his charges fall under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act, or CDSA.
One of them alleges he had $601,706 in criminal benefits from operating an unlawful remote gambling service based in the Philippines that targets people in China. His remaining seven CDSA charges accuse him of using around $976,700 in illicit proceeds to pay for a Mercedes-Benz AMG C63S car, bags, jewellery and alcohol, and to pay rent for a landed property and condominium.
He also faces one count of allegedly having a forged marriage certificate from China that stated he had registered his marriage with Su Yanping on May 20, 2018, when no such registration had been made.


The charge adds that he had intended to pass off the certificate as genuine in his dependant’s pass application to MOM.
Su Wenqiang was one of 10 foreigners arrested on Aug 15, 2023, in an anti-money laundering probe that has now seen more than $3 billion in assets seized.

The 10 suspects are (clockwise from top left) Su Baolin, Su Haijin, Chen Qingyuan, Su Wenqiang, Lin Baoying, Zhang Ruijin, Wang Dehai, Su Jianfeng, Vang Shuiming and Wang Baosen. ST ILLUSTRATIONS: CEL GULAPA
He was denied bail on Nov 2.
According to past court hearings, he came to Singapore in 2021 with his wife and children, aged five and six, as he wanted his children to be educated here.
Senior investigation officer (SIO) Francis Lim of the Criminal Investigation Department said in an affidavit that Su Wenqiang has been wanted by the Chinese authorities for illegal online gambling activities since 2017.
SIO Lim added that Su Wenqiang was recruited to be an executive at a remote lottery business operating from the Philippines and Cambodia. He was paid in cash.
He and his accomplices would communicate via WhatsApp and Telegram group chats to discuss their operations, including moving funds from remote gambling websites across borders, said SIO Lim.

In denying Su Wenqiang bail then, District Judge Brenda Tan said he has no deep roots in Singapore as he is neither a Singapore citizen nor a permanent resident here. His family members are foreigners.
She noted that he was a flight risk, as he has accomplices at large who may help him abscond.
The police have seized two vehicles with an estimated value of at least $584,000 in Su Yanping’s name and more than $2 million parked in her bank account.
Su Wenqiang also has substantial wealth overseas, including a house in Xiamen worth around $1.9 million that is registered to Su Yanping.
He will return to court for a pre-trial conference on Feb 1.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

11 new charges for money laundering accused who allegedly gave forged statements to UOB Kay Hian​

Vang Shuiming allegedly submitted forged financial statements from three companies. ST ILLUSTRATION: CEL GULAPA

Wong Shiying

FEB 1, 2024

SINGAPORE – Vang Shuiming, one of the 10 accused in Singapore’s largest money laundering case, was handed 11 more charges on Jan 31.
Vang, 42, also known as Wang Shuiming, allegedly submitted forged financial statements from three companies –Xiamen Mingxin Guarantee, Xiamen Yetian Trading and Xiamen Likanghang Trading – to UOB Kay Hian on June 28, 2022, as supporting documentation.
The financial statements were from 2015 to 2021.
His new charges do not elaborate on what the fake financial statements were for.
Vang, who is listed as a Turkish national in his charge sheets, now faces 16 charges in total.
During the Jan 31 hearing, Vang’s lawyer, Mr Andrew Chua from Drew & Napier, asked to speak to his client for five to 10 minutes over video link. District Judge Brenda Tan granted his request.
When Mr Chua asked if Vang will face more charges, the police prosecutor said he did not have the information.

Vang was among nine men and one woman arrested by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) on Aug 15, 2023, and charged the next day. The value of assets seized or frozen by the authorities now stands at over $3 billion.
According to past court hearings, cryptocurrency worth more than $3.8 million was withdrawn from Vang’s Binance account on Aug 17. The CAD did not know about these assets until it was told by the foreign authorities.
Vang was previously charged with one count of using a forged document and four counts of money laundering.

He had allegedly submitted a forged bank statement to Citibank Singapore in March 2021 as supporting documentation.
The money laundering charges relate to about $2.4 million held in four bank accounts. The sums are purportedly benefits from an unlicensed moneylending business in China.
Vang’s brother, Wang Shuiting, is one of eight fugitives wanted by the Singapore police in connection with the case. The two brothers are on China’s wanted list for illegal gambling activities.

High Court judge Vincent Hoong had refused bail for Vang on Oct 12, 2023, saying his offer to be placed under 24-hour surveillance did not satisfactorily address the significant flight risk he posed.
Judge Hoong added that Vang had obtained passports from Turkey, Vanuatu and Cambodia by making donations and financial contributions to those countries.
This amplifies the risk of Vang being able to abscond, whether by using the Cambodian passport – which, at the time, had not been found – or by procuring a new passport through similar methods, he said.
Deputy Public Prosecutor David Koh mentioned in a previous hearing that assets worth more than $240 million in the name of Vang and his wife had been seized or subject to prohibition orders in Singapore. The DPP said Vang also had more than $35.5 million in assets overseas.
Vang will return to court for a pre-trial conference on Feb 1.
Separately, Rainbow Centre, the operator of three special education schools, had acknowledged in October 2023 that it received donations from Vang and two of the 10 charged. According to its annual report, Vang donated $30,000.
It also received $25,350 from Cypriot national Su Haijin, 40, who faces one charge of money laundering and another for resisting arrest, and $17,100 from Chinese national Zhang Ruijin, 44, who faces a total of three forgery charges.
The donations were made between 2020 and 2023.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

2 new charges for money laundering accused who allegedly submitted forged documents to banks​

Su Jianfeng now faces six charges in total. ST ILLUSTRATION: CEL GULAPA

Nadine Chua

FEB 08, 2024

SINGAPORE – Su Jianfeng, one of the 10 accused in Singapore’s largest money laundering case, was handed two new charges on Feb 8.
Su, 35, a Vanuatu national who was originally from China, now faces six charges in total.
According to charge sheets, Su allegedly fraudulently used several sets of forged annual reports of a Chinese company, Xiamen Zhou Hang Mao Yi You Xian Gong Si, and submitted them as genuine documents to Standard Chartered Bank and Bank of Singapore.
This was allegedly done to deceive the banks into believing that Chen Qiuyan, a person allegedly linked to the case, had legitimate sources of wealth.
Chen Qiuyan was named in a notice the Ministry of Law sent out in August 2023 to dealers of precious metals and stones that listed the names of individuals who could be linked to suspicious transactions.
The Straits Times reported in September 2023 that Chen Qiuyan’s registered address is a unit at 8 Saint Thomas, a condominium in River Valley, where Su lived.
Su was handed four charges in August 2023 for allegedly possessing illegal proceeds from unlawful remote gambling offences, comprising $17 million in three safe deposit boxes and $550,903 in cash.

Prosecutors had said in October 2023 that Su claimed to be the chief executive of a computer support firm, but did not know where his office was.
In fact, investigations show that this firm, An Xing Technology, is a shell company, said the prosecution in arguing against granting him bail.
A Commercial Affairs Department officer’s affidavit had said that more than $231 million worth of assets belonging to Su and his wife had been seized or subjected to prohibition of disposal orders.

They include 13 real estate properties worth more than $115 million, four vehicles worth over $4.7 million, $18.4 million in cash, $66 million in bank accounts and $26 million worth of cryptocurrency.
Su is wanted in China for alleged links to an illegal gambling gang uncovered in 2017. Another of the accused, Cypriot national Wang Dehai, is wanted for his part in the same operation.
Su’s pre-trial conference is scheduled for Feb 15.

In January, the police said in their latest update that the assets seized in this money laundering case are worth more than $3 billion.
It is Singapore’s biggest money laundering case and one of the world’s largest.

In total, the assets confiscated by the authorities include 207 properties, 77 vehicles, more than $1.45 billion in bank accounts, and more than $76 million in cash of various currencies.
Thousands of bottles of liquor and wine, cryptocurrency worth more than $38 million, 68 gold bars, 483 luxury bags, 169 branded watches and 580 pieces of jewellery were also seized.
Separately, warrants of arrest and Interpol red notices were issued against two suspects – Cambodian nationals Su Yongcan, 33, and Wang Huoqiang, 29 – for money laundering offences.
A red notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.
The police had said the pair left Singapore before the 10 foreigners related to the case were arrested on Aug 15, 2023.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Accused in $3 billion money laundering case handed six new charges related to forgery​

The accused was handed charges for forgery, as well as forgery for the purpose of cheating, and fraudulently using as genuine a forged electronic record. ILLUSTRATION, PHOTO: CEL GULAPA, SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE

Samuel Devaraj

FEB 20, 2024

SINGAPORE – Cambodian national Chen Qingyuan, one of the 10 accused embroiled in a massive anti-money laundering probe, has been handed more charges.
It comes about six months after the police launched an operation that saw more than $3 billion in cash and assets seized.
The 33-year-old, who appeared before the court on Feb 20, was handed two charges for forgery, two for forgery for the purpose of cheating, and two for fraudulently using as genuine a forged electronic record.
He now faces a total of 10 charges.
Chen, who has been in remand since his arrest on Aug 15, 2023, was earlier charged with offences related to his alleged possession of benefits from criminal conduct including cash, bank accounts, cars and cryptocurrency worth more than $8 million.
As for the new forgery charges, court documents showed that in or around July 2021, Chen had allegedly instigated a person named Yin Hang Liu Shui Dian Hua to make two false income certificates with the intent to commit fraud.
One of the documents was dated July 10, 2020. It was purportedly issued by a company in China named Xiamen Yihong.

The other document was dated July 11, 2021. It was said to be issued by another Chinese company – Sunshine Coast.
For the charges involving the fraudulent use of forged electronic records, the prosecution is accusing Chen of having conspired with one Wang Qiujiao, on or before Dec 22, 2021, to submit forged documents to Standard Chartered Bank.
The Ministry of Law had earlier identified Wang as one of the 24 associates of the 10 money laundering accused.
As for the charges involving forgery for the purpose of cheating, court documents showed Yin was also involved.
Chen had allegedly instigated him to make a personal income tax statement, purportedly issued by the tax authority in China, and an income certificate said to be issued by a company in China named Zi Qinghua.

The documents were for Standard Chartered Bank, after the bank requested information concerning $3,042,556 and US$100,000 (S$134,000) that entered a bank account belonging to Wang.
Chen’s next court date is for a pre-trial conference on Feb 21.

 

[blackmondy]

IN SINKAPORE, NO DIRTY MONEY MEANS NO GDP GROWTH OKAY ?

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Shell companies in S’pore linked to money laundering operation in India​

India's Enforcement Directorate said 1.23 billion rupees (S$19.9 million) have been frozen. PHOTO: PIXABAY

Samuel Devaraj

MAR 05, 2024

SINGAPORE - One of India’s law enforcement agencies has uncovered a money laundering operation involving fake invoices issued by purported shell companies in Singapore for software and other services.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which comes under India’s Ministry of Finance, said in a Feb 28 release that shell companies in India had paid the firms in Singapore using monies received from loan, gambling and betting apps controlled by “Chinese entities”.
“ED investigation revealed that proceeds of crime generated from the apps are aggregated and laundered through mule accounts opened in various banks in Kerala state using payment aggregators,” said the directorate, adding that the funds were channelled through multiple shell companies operating in Indian cities like Chennai, Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai.
The directorate alleged that the firms used Nium India, a subsidiary of global foreign exchange settlement platform Nium Singapore, to move the funds, which included cryptocurrencies.
It added that this was done to conceal the monies from monitoring agencies.
The ED said 1.23 billion rupees (S$19.9 million), suspected to be proceeds of crime belonging to Singapore shell entities and parked in bank accounts of Nium India, have been frozen.
This followed raids on Feb 23 and 24 at 10 locations in the cities of Mumbai, Chennai and Kochi, which led the authorities to uncover a cluster of mule accounts in Kerala that were allegedly used to receive the criminal proceeds.

ED officers raided the premises of Nium India and its directors in Mumbai, and firms including Xoduz Solution, Vikrah Trading Enterprises, Tyrannus Technology and Future Vision Media Solutions.
The investigation was initiated after the police in the states of Kerala and Haryana received reports from victims who were said to be exploited or cheated through the online platforms.
The raids resulted in the recovery and seizure of several digital devices, various documents, and multiple bank accounts used for laundering.
In response to queries from The Straits Times, a spokesman for Nium said it took compliance and the prevention of money laundering very seriously. It said it was cooperating fully with the ED to address the points noted in the complaint and to clarify misunderstandings of how it operates in India.
He added that the probe is not related to its Nium entity in Singapore and described it as an investigation “into certain transactions facilitated through (the Indian subsidiary), by alleged bad actors in India”.
The spokesman said the Indian subsidiary is not licensed by the Reserve Bank of India to collect funds in India and does this through a licensed bank.
He added: “While this investigation is ongoing, we continue to fulfil all of our contractual and regulatory obligations in India and in all other countries we operate.
“We look forward to a timely resolution to this matter.”

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Su Wenqiang set to be first accused in $3b money laundering case to plead guilty on April 2​

Su Wenqiang, who was arrested at a good class bungalow in Bukit Timah on Aug 15, 2023, faces two money laundering charges. PHOTO: CHINA POLICE
David Sun and Christine Tan

MAR 08, 2024

SINGAPORE – A date has been set for one of the 10 accused in Singapore’s largest money laundering case to plead guilty.
Su Wenqiang, 32, a Cambodian national, is scheduled for a plead guilty mention on April 2.
According to court records, he is expected to appear via video link.
On March 7, after a pre-trial conference, his lawyer Sameer Amir Melber confirmed with The Straits Times that the plead guilty date is April 2.
He declined to provide more details.
Su Wenqiang faces a total of 11 charges.
He was arrested during the initial raid on Aug 15, 2023, at a good class bungalow in Lewis Road, and was found with passports from Cambodia, Vanuatu and China.

He was charged the next day with two counts of money laundering relating to a property and a Mercedes-Benz car allegedly paid for using monies from illegal remote gambling services in the Philippines that targeted people in China.
On Jan 29, he was handed another seven charges, including six for using his benefits from crime to buy items such as bags, jewellery and alcohol, and to pay rent for a landed property and a condominium.
The seventh charge was for allegedly having a forged China marriage certificate showing that he married his wife in May 2018.

Two days later on Jan 31, he was given another two charges for making false statements in applications for work and employment passes, including for engaging with someone to obtain a work pass for his wife.
Su Wenqiang has been held in remand for almost seven months since his arrest.
He is married to Su Yanping, who is a person of interest in the case, and they have two young children. The family moved from China to Singapore in 2021.
The police have seized two vehicles with an estimated total value of at least $584,000 in Su Yanping’s name, and more than $2 million in her bank account.
Su Wenqiang also has substantial wealth overseas, including a house in Xiamen worth around $1.9 million that is registered to Su Yanping.
He is linked to a gambling gang with two other accused persons, Wang Dehai and Su Jianfeng, and also to two other persons of interest, Su Yongcan and Wang Huoqiang.
Cypriot Wang Dehai, 35, faces two charges, while Vanuatuan Su Jianfeng, 35, faces six charges.
Singapore warrants of arrest and Interpol red notices have been issued against Cambodians Su Yongcan, 33, and Wang Huoqiang, 29, for money laundering offences.
The pair reportedly left Singapore before the raid on Aug 15, 2023.
Those with information on their whereabouts should call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000.
A list containing the details of the 10 accused persons, along with another 24 related persons, was circulated in August 2023 by the authorities to financial institutions and dealers of precious stones and metals for them to flag and report any transactions involving those on the list.
Checks by ST found that many of those on the list have shared interests in properties and companies in Singapore and overseas, and also hold passports from multiple countries.
The assets seized in Singapore’s largest money laundering case that saw 10 foreigners arrested in August 2023 are now worth more than $3 billion.
The police said on Jan 19 that they have issued prohibition of disposal orders on another 55 properties and 15 vehicles. An additional 189 luxury bags, 34 pieces of jewellery and five luxury watches were also seized.
The assets confiscated by the authorities so far include a total of 207 properties, 77 vehicles, more than $1.45 billion in bank accounts, and more than $76 million in cash in various currencies.

 

[Papsmearer]

When this obviously chinese fucker shows up at immigration with a turkish citizenship and not able to speak turkish, and ICA let him into singapore, who's fault is that?

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

$3b money laundering accused gets 6 new charges for submitting forged statements to Swiss bank​

A High Court judge refused bail for Vang in October 2023, saying there was a risk of Vang absconding as he had obtained passports from Turkey, Vanuatu and Cambodia. PHOTOS: CEL GULAPA, SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE

Wong Shiying

MAR 27, 2024

SINGAPORE – Vang Shuiming, one of the 10 accused in Singapore’s largest money laundering case, was handed six more charges on March 27.
Vang, 42, also known as Wang Shuiming, allegedly submitted forged financial statements from two companies – Xiamen Yetian Trading and Xiamen Likanghang Trading – to Bank Julius Baer & Co.’s Singapore branch on July 19, 2022, as supporting documentation.
Bank Julius Baer & Co. is a Swiss private bank that offers financing, investment advisory, custodial, and wealth management services.
The financial statements mentioned in the new charges were from 2017 to 2019.
Vang now has 22 charges in total, the most number of charges faced among the 10 accused.
Vang, who is listed as a Turkish National in his charge sheets, was one of 10 foreigners arrested on Aug 15, 2023, in islandwide raids hitting luxury homes across Singapore including Tanglin, Bukit Timah, Orchard Road, Sentosa and River Valley.
The assets seized in the case are now worth more than $3 billion.

During the March 27 hearing, Mr Wendell Wong from Drew & Napier questioned why the latest charges against his client were tendered only now, when the defence had raised its position on the issue with banks earlier.
The prosecution said it didn’t have reasons for the delay, to which Mr Wong replied he will bring up the matter to the courts at a later hearing.
Mr Wong asked to speak to Vang for 10 to 15 minutes over video link, and his request was granted by District Judge Shawn Ho.


Vang was previously charged with four counts of money laundering and 12 counts of submitting forged financial documents to banks.
The money laundering charges relate to about $2.4 million held in four bank accounts. The sums are purportedly benefits from an unlicensed moneylending business in China.
The forgery-related charges allege that Vang had submitted forged financial statements from three companies – Xiamen Mingxin Guarantee, Xiamen Yetian Trading and Xiamen Likanghang Trading – to UOB Kay Hian on June 28, 2022, as supporting documentation.
He allegedly submitted a forged bank statement to Citibank Singapore in March 2021.
MORE ON THIS TOPIC
Money laundering accused fails in latest bid for bail
Who are the 10 charged after the billion-dollar anti-money laundering raid in S'pore?
According to past court hearings, cryptocurrency worth more than $3.8 million was withdrawn from Vang’s Binance account on Aug 17, 2023, while he was remanded. The Commercial Affairs Department’s lead investigation officer for the case said this showed Vang had connections outside, which made him a high flight risk.
Vang’s brother, Wang Shuiting, is one of eight fugitives wanted by the Singapore police in connection with the case. The brothers are on China’s wanted list for illegal gambling activities.
A High Court judge refused bail for Vang in October 2023, saying there was a risk of Vang absconding as he had obtained passports from Turkey, Vanuatu and Cambodia by making donations to these countries.
Assets worth more than $240 million in the name of Vang and his wife had been seized or subject to prohibition orders in Singapore. Vang also has more than $35.5 million in assets abroad.
He will return to court for a pre-trial conference on April 4.
The Straits Times reported in October 2023 that Rainbow Centre, the operator of three special education schools, acknowledged it received donations from Vang and two of the 10 charged. According to its annual report, Vang donated $30,000.
If convicted of money laundering, Vang can be fined up to $500,000 and jailed for up to 10 years for each offence.
If convicted of using a forged document as genuine, he can be jailed for up to four years and fined for each offence.
Su Wenqiang, a 32-year-old Cambodian national, has 11 charges, the second-highest number of charges faced among the 10 accused.
He is set to be the first of them to plead guilty on April 2.
Su Haijin, who faces two charges, is set to plead guilty on April 4.
So far, the assets seized in the case include 207 properties, 77 vehicles, more than $1.45 billion in bank accounts, and more than $76 million in cash of various currencies.
Thousands of bottles of liquor and wine, cryptocurrency worth more than $38 million, 68 gold bars, 483 luxury bags, 169 branded watches and 580 pieces of jewellery have also been seized.

 

[laksaboy]

When this obviously chinese fucker shows up at immigration with a turkish citizenship and not able to speak turkish, and ICA let him into singapore, who's fault is that?

It's not a fault, not an honest mistake. It's official, national policy. Has been that for many, many years.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

New charges for $3b money laundering accused over false financial statements to Iras, MOM​

Su Haijin now faces 14 charges in total, and is set to plead guilty on April 4. PHOTO: WECHAT

Wong Shiying

APR 01, 2024

SINGAPORE – Su Haijin, one of the accused in Singapore’s largest money laundering case, was on April 1 handed 12 more charges, the most dished out in the case in a day.
Three of his new charges allege that he abetted a Mr Wang Junjie by engaging in a conspiracy with Mr Wang to make false representations to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore with regard to Yihao Cyber Technologies’ revenue, gross profits and trade receivables.
These allegedly happened between 2020 and 2022.
Su, 41, also allegedly abetted Mr Wang in making false representations to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in May 2022 for Yihao’s 2021 financial year.
Another three charges accuse him of conspiring with Mr Wang in 2022 to submit forged financial statements from Yihao to DBS Bank, OCBC Bank and UOB.
These statements were for the 2021 financial year, and were submitted to DBS and UOB in support of an application by Su to open corporate bank accounts for Yihao. As for OCBC, Su allegedly sought to join the bank’s premier private client segment.
The Straits Times previously reported that Mr Wang held positions in nine companies linked to three of the 10 accused in the money laundering probe.


He also held multiple directorships and secretarial and shareholder positions in 185 companies.
On Jan 18, the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra) had Mr Wang’s registration as a qualified individual cancelled.
Su also faces two new money laundering charges, which accuse him of possessing more than $1.4 million in Yihao’s DBS and UOB accounts, believed to be benefits from unlawful remote gambling offences.

His three remaining new charges relate to making false statements to MOM’s Controller of Work Passes.
In 2021, he allegedly instructed one Ms Wu Qin, believed to be his wife, to sign and declare in an employment pass form to the Controller of Work Passes that she would be employed as chairman at Culbert Management. He allegedly instructed her to sign a renewal form in 2023 declaring that she would continue to be chairman of the company.
He also allegedly told a Ms Chen Yanyan to sign an employment pass form in 2023 that stated she would be employed by Culbert Management as a personal assistant.
Culbert Management is listed on an Acra business record as a live company providing management consultancy services.

Su, who is listed as a Cypriot national in his charge sheets, now faces 14 charges in total, and is set to plead guilty on April 4.
He was among 10 foreigners arrested on Aug 15, 2023, in islandwide raids on luxury homes across Singapore, including in Tanglin, Bukit Timah, Orchard Road, Sentosa and River Valley.
The assets seized in the case are now worth more than $3 billion.
Su’s two earlier charges were for resisting arrest in Singapore and for money laundering.
His first charge alleges that he refused to open his room door when police raided his residence in Ewart Park in Bukit Timah on Aug 15, 2023, and instead left the room via the second-floor balcony.
He fractured his hands and legs after jumping from the balcony, and appeared in court for several mentions via video link from Changi General Hospital.
His second charge, which was amended on April 1, alleges that he possessed nearly $2.4 million through Yihao’s OCBC account, which is suspected of being benefits from unlawful remote gambling offences.

The sum, which Su is said to have failed to account for satisfactorily, was allegedly received in the bank account through 10 transactions from Jan 15, 2021, to Oct 12, 2021.
If convicted of resisting arrest, Su can be jailed for up to a year and fined.
If convicted of money laundering, he can be fined up to $500,000 and jailed for up to 10 years.
The authorities have seized more than $170 million in assets from Su and his wife.
ST previously reported that a company partly owned by Su paid more than $73 million for two buildings in London.
The buildings at 283 Oxford Street and 11 Princes Street, which back onto each other, were sold for £43.3 million (S$73.7 million) on Dec 17, 2021, to New Yihao, according to property records in Britain.

The 10 accused are (clockwise from top left) Su Baolin, Su Haijin, Chen Qingyuan, Su Wenqiang, Lin Baoying, Zhang Ruijin, Wang Dehai, Su Jianfeng, Vang Shuiming and Wang Baosen. ST ILLUSTRATIONS: CEL GULAPA
New Yihao was registered in tax haven Jersey, a British Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. The company was set up just two months before the purchases.
It lists Su as a beneficial owner, with more than a 25 per cent stake in a trust that controls the company.
According to an affidavit filed by the Commercial Affairs Department, Su admitted to having 10 properties abroad worth more than $14.2 million. Aside from the Oxford Street building in London, he said he owned a condo in Cambodia, three condos in Cyprus, and five condos in Macau.
He also has partial ownership of a yacht named Family, which is valued at US$4 million (S$5.4 million).
Su Wenqiang, a 32-year-old Cambodian national who faces 11 charges, is set to be the first among the 10 accused to plead guilty on April 2.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Su Wenqiang, accused in $3b money laundering case, sentenced to 13 months’ jail​

Su Wenqiang pleaded guilty to two money laundering charges. PHOTO: CHINA POLICE
Wong Shiying and Nadine Chua

APR 02, 2024

SINGAPORE – Cambodian national Su Wenqiang was sentenced to 13 months’ jail after he pleaded guilty on April 2 to money laundering.
The 32-year-old is the first of 10 foreign nationals to be convicted over a probe, led by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD), that saw more than $3 billion in cash and assets seized.
The prosecution sought 12 to 15 months’ jail for Su, noting his early plea of guilt and his willingness to forfeit his assets worth over $5.9 million to the state.
These assets include luxury items such as a Graff diamond ring, a pair of Dior earrings, a Tiffany & Co bracelet, a Prada bag, a Toyota Alphard vehicle, bottles of Macallan Scotch whisky and cash.
Su’s defence lawyers sought 11 months’ jail for their client.
Su admitted to two money laundering charges over his possession of more than $600,000 in cash – benefits from unlawful remote gambling offences – and the use of $500,000 in criminal benefits to buy a Mercedes-Benz car.
Another nine charges were taken into consideration for his sentencing. They comprise six for money laundering, one for possessing a forged marriage certificate and two for making false statements to the Ministry of Manpower.

Su, who held passports from Cambodia, Vanuatu and China, appeared in court via video link at around 10.30am. He listened without expression as the statement of facts was read out to him.
He has been in remand for about eight months since his arrest on Aug 15, 2023.
Su was apprehended in a good class bungalow in Lewis Road in Bukit Timah, which he was renting, when the police conducted islandwide raids at luxury homes across Singapore.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Grace Teo told the court that, some time in 2019, Su took part in online gambling activities while he was living in Manila in the Philippines.
Through it, he got to know a person identified in court as A, who roped him in to work for an illegal remote gambling business based in the Philippines.
The business targeted people in China and ran a website which allowed its customers to place bets through their mobile phones. It is an offence in China to provide online gambling services for people there.
Su reported to A for work and subsequently found out that the boss of the operation was an unknown person from Taiwan.
Among other duties, Su managed the staff who maintained one of the business’ online gambling websites.
The DPP said Su shared in the profits the syndicate made every month. In 2021, he moved to Singapore as his wife wanted their two young children to study here.

While in Singapore, Su continued to work for the illegal gambling business and flew to the Philippines regularly for work.
In June 2023, he contacted a person, identified in court as B, who managed the finances of the illegal gambling business.
Su asked for his share of the proceeds and B, who was also residing in Singapore at the time, offered to pay him $1 million.
Later that month, Su went to B’s home with two pieces of luggage and B gave him $1 million in cash. Su took the money home and kept it in a safe.
During the police’s raid in 2023, $601,706 in cash was found in Su’s safe. This sum was the balance of the $1 million in cash and represents benefits from criminal conduct, said the prosecution.

Su’s involvement in providing the gambling service while he was in Singapore also constitutes an offence here, added the DPP.
In September 2021, nearly $5 million in criminal proceeds from the gambling business were transferred to a Citibank account controlled by Su, who has been on China’s wanted list for illegal online gambling activities since 2017.
On Jan 28, 2022, Su withdrew $502,431 in cash from the Citibank account to buy a Mercedes-Benz AMG C 63 S car.
Seeking 12 to 15 months’ jail for each charge, and for the sentences to run concurrently, DPP Edwin Soh said money laundering is a serious offence that facilitates international criminals enjoying their ill-gotten gains.
The DPP highlighted what Second Minister for Home Affairs Josephine Teo said in Parliament in October 2023 – that criminals will try to exploit Singapore’s economic openness and strong reputation for the rule of law to launder illicit funds.
As such, DPP Soh said there is a pressing need to deter money laundering offences to maintain Singapore’s reputation as a legitimate financial hub.
He raised three aggravating factors in Su’s case. First, the offences involved a transnational syndicate, which made it more difficult for law enforcement to detect his crimes.
Second, the amount of money involved in this case was substantial – over $1.1 million for Su’s two proceeded charges and over $1.5 million for all his money laundering charges.
Third, nine charges were taken into consideration for Su’s sentencing.
Defence lawyer Nandwani Manoj Prakash said the assets confiscated from Su represent the entirety of his earnings from the illegal gambling business.
“The confiscation is total, it is complete and the effect this will have on (Su) is devastating as it leaves him with nothing,” he added.
The lawyer said that while Su’s conduct was criminal in nature, the activities were not targeted at Singapore, and caused low to no harm to Singapore society.
DPP Soh disagreed, saying Su had laundered criminal proceeds through Singapore’s financial system.
The defence lawyer said that his client indicated that he wanted to plead guilty on March 7, just five weeks after he was handed his last set of charges on Jan 31.
“In coming forward at an early stage, Su demonstrated courage, humility and a sense of personal accountability for the offences,” Mr Prakash said in his written mitigation plea.
Senior District Judge Ong Hian Sun said he agreed with the prosecution that general deterrence should be the predominating sentencing principle in this case, which constitutes the largest money laundering probe in Singapore.
The judge said in meting out his sentence, he took into account Su’s cooperation, plea of guilt and restitution.
Su’s sentence will be backdated to the date of his arrest.
After sentencing, the defence asked the judge if Su could, after his release from prison, take three weeks to settle his affairs before leaving Singapore.
In response, Judge Ong said such matters are not decided by the courts.
The Singapore Police Force released a statement after the sentencing that said it has seized all illicit funds Su brought into Singapore.
Mr David Chew, director of CAD, added: “Law enforcement, the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office and regulatory agencies will continue to work together to better detect complex money laundering, arrest the criminals, charge them and deprive them of their ill-gotten gains.”
For each charge of money laundering, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years, fined up to $500,000, or both.
Cypriot national Su Haijin, 41, who faces 14 charges, is set to be the next accused to plead guilty, on April 4.
Chinese national Wang Baosen, 32, who faces two money laundering charges, is expected to plead guilty on April 16.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Swiss banker gets no prison in ‘Singapore Solution’ tax scam​

The judge sentenced Daniel Walchli on April 2 to the brief time he spent in custody after surrendering in 2022. PHOTO: REUTERS

APR 03, 2024

NEW YORK - An executive at a Swiss holding company did not get prison time for participating in a scheme to help US taxpayers hide more than US$60 million (S$81 million) in assets in a fraudulent arrangement known as the “Singapore Solution”.
Daniel Walchli, 56, pleaded guilty in 2023 to a single count of conspiracy to defraud the United States for his role in setting up a structure for American clients of Privatbank Ihag to evade scrutiny by tax authorities. US District Judge Gregory Woods sentenced Walchli on April 2 to the brief time he spent in custody after surrendering in 2022.
Walchli was a member of the executive board of Zurich’s Ihag Holding, which owned Privatbank. Charges were unsealed against him in 2021 along with two Ihag bankers, Swiss financial firm Allied Finance Trust and two of its executives.
Walchli admitted conspiring with Privatbank executives and others from 2008 to 2014 to allow favoured clients to maintain secret accounts despite stepped-up US government enforcement and investigation of accounts held by American taxpayers in Switzerland.
According to prosecutors, the bankers approached a handful of high-net-worth clients to help them continue to hide assets from the US government by making transfers to accounts in other countries, then repatriating the funds to Switzerland in new accounts nominally held by a Singapore-based asset management firm.
“I deeply regret what I have done, to you, Your Honour, to the government and to the American people,” Walchli told the judge at a sentencing hearing in Manhattan federal court.
Most of the hidden assets that were cited in the case belonged to a Manhattan hedge fund manager identified in the indictment as Client-1.

One of the other taxpayers, Wayne Franklyn Chinn, pleaded guilty in San Francisco federal court in 2019 to participating in the scheme. Chinn agreed to turn over US$2.2 million. BLOOMBERG

 

[bobby]

$100,000,000 for each month is a good deal….

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Su Wenqiang, first to be convicted in $3b money laundering case, will be deported​

Cambodian national Su Wenqiang was sentenced to 13 months’ jail on April 2. He holds passports from Cambodia, Vanuatu and China. PHOTOS: CHINA POLICE, SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
Samuel Devaraj and Christine Tan

APR 04, 2024

SINGAPORE – Cambodian national Su Wenqiang – the first person to be sentenced in Singapore’s largest money laundering case – will be deported after his release from prison.
He will also be barred from re-entering Singapore, an Immigration and Checkpoints Authority spokesman told The Straits Times on April 4.
As to which country he will be sent back to, the spokesman said “the location of deportation is dependent on the admissibility of the foreigner based on his or her valid passport”.
Su became a Cambodian national on Oct 7, 2019. He also holds passports from Vanuatu and China.
The 32-year-old was sentenced to 13 months’ jail on April 2 after pleading guilty to two money laundering charges, becoming the first of 10 foreigners to be convicted over a probe that saw more than $3 billion in cash and assets seized.
Su was arrested on Aug 15, 2023, and had been in remand for almost eight months.
Associate Professor Mervyn Cheong from the National University of Singapore said that if Su’s sentence is backdated to his date of arrest, then he might be out at the end of April, or in early May.

Under the Prisons Act, an inmate will receive a one-third remission unless certain incidents occur while he serves his sentence – for example, committing an offence such as rioting in prison.
Prof Cheong, who practises at Advocatus Law, said that with the remission, Su’s effective jail term is about 8½ months.
Speaking from his experience, he said that foreigners are typically deported after they complete their sentences. This is because they are no longer considered desirable persons to remain in Singapore, and not because there is any law or international agreement that governs the deportation of such offenders, said Prof Cheong.

He added that the foreigner, or his family, also has to pay for his own airfare.
As to which country Su would go to, Prof Cheong said it is not where Singapore wants to deport him back to, but where his passport allows him to travel. He said foreign offenders will usually travel back to where they are a citizen of.

Mr Alexander Woon of RHTLaw Asia said deportation is different from extradition, where a state seeks the return of an accused person in order to prosecute him.
Su has been on China’s wanted list for illegal online gambling activities since 2017.
Singapore does not have extradition treaties with China and Cambodia. However, it has an extradition arrangement with Vanuatu, part of a scheme for extradition between Commonwealth countries.
On whether Su’s family might also be deported, Mr Woon said it depends on their own immigration status and whether they have violated any conditions of their permit or pass.
Su is married to Su Yanping, who is a person of interest in the case, and they have two young children. The family moved from China to Singapore in 2021.
Mr Woon, who lectures at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, said: “It’s not clear whether his family have independent rights to be here on their own, or whether they are parasitic on his permit or pass.”
Su admitted to two money laundering charges over his possession of more than $600,000 in cash – benefits from unlawful remote gambling offences – and the use of $500,000 in criminal benefits to buy a Mercedes-Benz car.
Another nine charges were taken into consideration for his sentencing. They comprise six for money laundering, one for possessing a forged marriage certificate, and two for making false statements to the Ministry of Manpower.
His lawyers and the prosecution held multiple pre-trial conferences that were not open to the media.

Prof Cheong said Su’s lawyers would have asked the prosecution for a plea offer. This means if the accused person pleads guilty, the prosecution will proceed on a certain number of charges and apply for the other charges to be taken into consideration for sentencing, instead of proceeding on all charges.
To obtain a plea offer, Prof Cheong said, the defence could provide more evidence to the prosecution about the culpability or involvement of their client in the crime. The accused person could also offer more information in a show of remorse.
Su has forfeited his assets worth over $5.9 million to the state. They included a Graff diamond ring, a pair of Dior earrings, a Tiffany & Co bracelet, a Prada bag, a Toyota Alphard vehicle, bottles of Macallan Scotch whisky and cash.
Mr Woon said a sentence for a guilty plea is expected to be about one-third less than a trial sentence, if the accused pleads guilty quickly. However, this discount diminishes if the accused pleads guilty closer to trial, he added.
Had Su claimed trial, Prof Cheong said he would not have had any sentencing discounts.
During Su’s sentencing, prosecutors had said in court that a 30 per cent discount was already factored in for the sentence of 12 to 15 months’ jail they had sought.
Said Prof Cheong: “In Su’s case, it is probable that his agreement to forfeit a very substantial amount of seized assets, instead of contesting the forfeiture, showed his remorse and gave good grounds for a plea offer to be extended.”