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.
