Money laundering accused on the run from Chinese authorities, came to S’pore in 2021: Prosecutor

SINGAPORE – One of the 10 people accused in

Singapore’s largest money laundering case

was not just a foreigner when he came to Singapore in 2021.

He was a fugitive on the run from the Chinese authorities, said the prosecution on Thursday.

This was revealed at the bail review for Cambodian national Su Wenqiang, 31. His application for bail was denied.

In arguing for his client to be released on bail, Su’s lawyer Sameer Amir Melber said Su came to Singapore in 2021 with his wife and children, aged five and six, as he wanted his children to be educated here.

But Deputy Public Prosecutor Edwin Soh said: “The fact that his children study in Singapore is clearly insufficient to show that he is not a flight risk.

“The accused is not just a foreigner who came to Singapore in 2021. He is also a wanted fugitive who is currently evading Chinese authorities. He is currently on the run (from the authorities in China).”

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 said Su was recruited to be an executive at a remote lottery business operating from the Philippines and Cambodia, and targeting gamblers from China. 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.

He said these four accomplices are wanted by police here, as they were not in Singapore when anti-money laundering raids were conducted here on Aug 15.

In Su’s affidavit, he claimed even if he were to be granted bail, he would not be able to contact his accomplices as his laptops and mobile phones had been seized.

But SIO Lim argued that Su could use another device to access his WhatsApp and Telegram accounts and get his accomplices’ help to abscond.

Su, who was arrested at a good class bungalow in Bukit Timah on Aug 15, faces two money laundering charges. He was charged on Aug 16 with allegedly possessing $601,706, which is said to represent his benefits from criminal conduct.

He was handed another charge on Aug 30 for allegedly buying a Mercedes-Benz AMG C63S car using $500,000 that was allegedly his benefit from providing an unlawful remote gambling service based in the Philippines for people in China.

SIO Lim noted in his first affidavit that the police also seized two vehicles in Su’s wife’s name, with an estimated value of at least $584,000, 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 and registered to his wife Su Yanping.

On Thursday, Mr Sameer told the court that his client had said all gambling services in the Philippines were approved by the authorities there. He added that the remote gambling services were not facilitated in Singapore and no one here had used these services.

But DPP Soh said in his submissions that Su had not shown any licence for the remote gambling business to the police.

And even if the business was legal in the Philippines, Su had purportedly provided gambling services to Chinese citizens in China, which is an offence in China, said DPP Soh.

Su appeared via video link in a white shirt and kept his head down during proceedings.

At the hearing on Aug 30, he had said in Mandarin that he was on the verge of a mental breakdown and requested that the court grant him bail.

In denying Su bail on Thursday, District Judge Brenda Tan noted that he was neither a Singapore citizen nor a permanent resident here.

She said: “He owns passports from Cambodia, China and Vanuatu. He did not dispute that he was able to obtain his passports from Cambodia and Vanuatu with ease even though he had never been to those countries.”

She added that Su’s parents reside in China and his family members are foreigners, thus clearly showing he has no deep roots in Singapore.

The judge said: “Moreover, he is a fugitive who has been on the run. Mr Su would thus have the motive and incentive to relocate and flee again.”

She noted that he has accomplices at large who may assist him in absconding.

Ten foreigners, all originally from China, were charged on Aug 16 with various offences, including money laundering, forgery and resisting arrest.

The authorities have since taken control of more than $2.8 billion worth of assets, including 152 properties and 62 vehicles with an estimated value of more than $1.24 billion.

The assets also include money in bank accounts amounting to more than $1.45 billion, and cash in various currencies worth more than $76 million.

Thousands of bottles of liquor and wine, cryptocurrency worth more than $38 million, 68 gold bars, 294 luxury bags, 164 branded watches and 546 pieces of jewellery were also seized.

It is Singapore’s biggest money laundering case and said to be one of the world’s largest.

Su’s case is scheduled for a pre-trial conference on Dec 14.