Man used over $1.5b in criminal proceeds to buy gold bars before exporting most of them

SINGAPORE – Between 2014 and 2017, a South Korean man received cash totalling more than $1.5 billion – proceeds of a foreign crime – from outside Singapore and used the money to buy nearly 28,000 gold bars.

Details of the proceeds of this overseas crime were not disclosed in court documents, but Kim Taek Hoon, 64, later sent out 505 shipments

containing more than 23,500 gold bars

, hidden inside tools, to South Korea and Japan.

The prosecution said that Kim did not know the ultimate source of the money, but he believed that the funds were sent to him as part of an “illegal activity”.

Deputy public prosecutors David Koh and Wong Shiau Yin stated in court documents: “For close to four years, the accused... played a pivotal role in a clandestine scheme which abused Singapore’s status as a commercial import and export hub.

“As part of this scheme, the accused perpetrated a persistent fraud (against Singapore Customs) to successfully export about $1.5 billion worth of gold bars out of Singapore, concealed in shipments of mechanical tools.”

On Sept 4, Kim, who received around $1 million for his involvement in the scheme, pleaded guilty to three counts of cheating – one involving Singapore Customs and two linked to logistics service providers, Pantos Logistics and Cosmo SCM.

He also pleaded guilty to one count each of money laundering and receiving over $20,000 in cash from overseas without alerting the authorities. Sixteen other charges will be considered during his sentencing.

Court documents stated that around 1998, Kim got to know a man known as Cha Young Soo while they were both jailed in South Korea for undisclosed offences.

Following his release, Kim went to Japan to work but continued to be in contact with Cha.

Some time in 2013 or 2014, Cha told Kim about a “business opportunity”, and asked Kim to accompany him to Singapore. Kim agreed to do so as he trusted Cha and believed he was a wealthy man.

The DPPs said: “After the accused arrived in Singapore, Cha proposed an arrangement to the accused which involved the accused using cash to purchase gold bars in Singapore, before concealing these gold bars in shipments to be shipped to Korea and Japan. The accused agreed to that arrangement.”

The two men then went to an unnamed jewellery wholesaler in Singapore together. Cha instructed Kim to buy gold bars only from that wholesaler.

As part of the plan, Cha made arrangements for shipments or parcels from South Korea and Japan to be sent to Kim in Singapore. The shipments and parcels contained cash concealed in grease pumps.

The court heard that each pump contained at least US$200,000 (S$257,000). Each shipment contained three to four grease pumps, said the DPPs. On the shipping documents, only the grease pumps were declared.

After removing the cash, Kim replaced the grease pumps in the same boxes that they came in and shipped them to either South Korea or Japan.

Kim kept part of the cash for himself as his reward. He used the remaining cash to buy gold bars from the jewellery wholesaler.

Separately, Cha also sent shipments of air-powered wrenches to Kim in Singapore.

Kim then concealed the gold bars in the wrenches by unscrewing the covers of the tools before placing the valuables inside. After that, he repacked the wrenches and exported the shipments containing the concealed gold bars to South Korea and Japan. 

Kim made these exports in the names of three companies – Hi-Top Foundation Services, ABMS Global and Omni Asia Trading & Services – in Singapore.

The DPPs said that the companies were controlled by Kim’s friend, who allowed him to use the names of the firms to send goods. However, the friend did not know that Kim was concealing gold bars in the shipments.

The prosecutors added that Kim exported the shipments through three logistics providers, including Pantos and Cosmo. In the shipping documents submitted to these providers, he declared that they contained only “air impact wrenches”.

Kim also cheated Singapore Customs by stating that the exports contained only the tools and not the gold bars.

The DPPs said that Kim flew in and out of Singapore to carry out the scheme.

They added: “In 2017, Cha informed the accused that he should stop buying gold bars from Singapore as Cha was moving the operations to Hong Kong as it would be more profitable. He then asked the accused to send the remaining impact wrenches, boxes, and cash to Hong Kong to continue the operations there.”

Kim made one trip to Hong Kong, where he met Cha to assist him with the move of the operations.

Singapore’s Commercial Affairs Department later received information that Kim could be involved in a suspicious shipment which was sent to Japan in December 2023.

He entered Singapore on Dec 22 that year and was arrested six days later.

He will be sentenced on Oct 1.