$3b money laundering case: 7th man jailed for 15 months, forfeiting $21.3m of assets to state
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Over $23 million worth of assets were seized from Cambodian national Chen Qingyuan.
PHOTO: COURT DOCUMENTS
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SINGAPORE – Cambodian national Chen Qingyuan, 34, who is wanted in China for fraud, was jailed for 15 months on May 23 over his role in Singapore’s largest money laundering case.
He was convicted of two money laundering charges and one forgery-related charge.
He is the first of the seven foreigners convicted so far to appear in court in person. The other six had attended court proceedings via video link.
Chen faced 10 charges in total,
Of the over $23 million in assets seized from Chen after his arrest on Aug 15, 2023, about 90 per cent – or $21.3 million – will be forfeited to the state.
Nine other foreigners were arrested that day when the police conducted simultaneous raids islandwide in a money laundering probe that saw more than $3 billion in assets seized.
Chen’s forfeited assets include over $8 million in bank accounts, more than $1 million in luxury watches and $2.2 million in cars.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Foo Shi Hao said some of Chen’s assets were held in the name of his girlfriend, Wang Qiujiao, including a Standard Chartered Bank account with Chen’s funds.
Between September 2019 and July 2021, Chen arranged to transfer over $3.1 million to the bank account.
When the bank inquired about his source of funds, Chen conspired with his girlfriend to submit a forged income certificate to the bank.
The document showed that his girlfriend was employed by a company in China named Sunshine Coast, and made around 800,000 yuan (S$152,000) from April 2010 to April 2012.
Chen paid a contact of his about $40 to create the fake certificate.
The prosecution said in the course of investigations that Wang Qiujiao admitted she was not employed by Sunshine Coast.
Chen’s two money laundering charges that were proceeded with for sentencing involved his possession of over $614,750 in cash and a white Range Rover worth over $1 million that were reasonably suspected of being criminal benefits.
DPP Foo said Chen was involved in remote gambling offences abroad and had transferred these proceeds to Singapore.
He added: “The accused claimed that the properties were traceable to other legitimate sources of income, such as the repayment of loans, or from the sale of online gaming items.
“However, he was unable to substantiate any of his claims with more details or evidence.”
The DPP sought between 15 and 17 months’ jail for Chen, saying a suitably lengthy custodial term is necessary to deter others from money laundering and abusing Singapore’s banking infrastructure.
He added that the proposed sentence is consistent with the jail terms meted out to the suspects convicted earlier in the case.
Defence lawyer Gary Low sought 14 months’ jail for his client, saying many of the offenders in this case were sentenced to spend 14 months behind bars, and Chen’s case “doesn’t rank anywhere near the top”.
The lawyer added that Chen made various economic and social contributions after arriving in Singapore in September 2019.
Mr Low said Chen was actively involved in charity, including being the deputy chairman of Lions Club of Singapore Mandarin, and regularly participated in organising social activities for the elderly.
“This showed a genuine desire by him to do good and indicates his capacity for reform,” he added.
The other six men convicted in this case are Vang Shuiming, Su Wenqiang, Su Haijin, Wang Baosen, Su Baolin and Zhang Ruijin. They were each sentenced to between 13 and 15 months’ jail.
They each agreed to forfeit between $5.9 million and $180 million in assets to the state.
Including the assets Chen has agreed to forfeit, over $560 million in assets have been forfeited by them.
Su Wenqiang and Wang Baosen were deported to Cambodia
The only woman in the group, Chinese national Lin Baoying, is set to plead guilty on May 30. She faces 10 charges
Cypriot national Wang Dehai is also expected to plead guilty, on June 13. He faces two money laundering charges.
