Money laundering case: Woman overstated S’pore roots as she was living with lover, not daughter: DPP

SINGAPORE – The only woman accused in the

$2.8 billion money laundering case

is said to have lived in Sentosa with her lover while her 15-year-old daughter lived with a maid in Beach Road.

The lover is also one of the accused in Singapore’s worst money laundering case.

In Lin Baoying’s bail review on Wednesday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Nicholas Tan said the 44-year-old Chinese national, who had claimed she lives in Singapore with her daughter, had been less than candid with the court.

He said: “In reality, the daughter resides in Singapore but not with the accused. They stay at separate residences.”

The prosecution is not insinuating that Lin did not intend to fulfil her motherly duties, but that her claim to be rooted here because of her daughter is overstated, said the DPP.

He added that the daughter is receiving adequate care while Lin is in remand, and it is clear that they had separate living arrangements before her arrest.

In arguing for bail, Lin’s lawyer, Mr Chew Kei-Jin, said his client, who faces two charges of forgery and one of perverting the course of justice, was first interviewed by police in June 2022.

He then referred to an affidavit by Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) officer Seow Jing Min saying that Lin left Singapore twice with another accused, Zhang Ruijin, 45, during investigations – for Europe in July 2022 and the Maldives in April 2023.

Mr Chew said Lin returned to Singapore each time, and it was not something a person seeking to abscond would do.

The first sign of trouble that had led to the discovery of the Republic’s largest money laundering case was in 2021, when the authorities noticed possibly forged documents being used to substantiate sources of funds in bank accounts here,

Second Minister for Home Affairs Josephine Teo said in Parliament on Oct 3.

Mrs Teo said that after an extensive probe in 2022, the police uncovered a web of people allegedly transferring money, suspected to be earned from criminal activities, to Singapore from abroad.

On Wednesday evening, District Judge Terence Tay rejected Lin’s request for bail, along with similar requests from three others – Zhang, Wang Dehai and Su Jianfeng.

The judge said apart from them being flight risks, there was the risk of collusion. Besides, they can still meet their lawyers while in remand, he added.

In arguing against bail earlier, DPP Tan said Lin has passports from countries to which she has no substantive ties, including Turkey, Cambodia and Dominica, a country she has never visited.

He said Lin obtained the Dominican passport after paying US$130,000 (S$178,000) to an agent and got the Cambodian one after paying US$160,000.

The DPP said the manner in which she bought the passports meant she could do so again using similar methods.

Mr Chew said that apart from a social connection with four of the other accused individuals in the case, Lin has not been shown to be connected to the others.

One of the four was Zhang, whom Mr Chew described as Lin’s “domestic partner”.

It was revealed in court on Aug 16 that Lin and Zhang – who

were among 10 foreigners charged in connection with the case

– were lovers. 

Referring to Lin, Zhang had told the court: “You can separate her crimes from me, we are just lovers... You can bail me out, but remand her.”

According to Ms Seow’s affidavit, the pair have known each other for more than a decade.

Lin calls Zhang her husband, though they are not officially married.

Of Mr Chew’s claim that Lin had only a social connection to four of the accused, DPP Tan said the ties were not simply about meals and gatherings.

Lin had gone on holidays with Zhang, and with two other accused individuals – Su Baolin and Su Haijin – and their wives.

In arguing for bail, Zhang’s lawyer, Mr Loo Choon Chiaw, said his client was incapable of absconding as Zhang, who faces three forgery charges, had only $93,000 left of personal funds.

Mr Loo said his client is gainfully employed as the chief investment officer of Golden Eagle Family Office, which further demonstrates his ties to Singapore.

Zhang has lived in Singapore for about four years, and wanted to raise a family here with Lin before their arrests, said Mr Loo, adding these plans have not changed.

But DPP Tan argued that Zhang had set up Golden Eagle to manage his wealth, and that was essentially the only function of his business.

The prosecutor said the company is dependent on Zhang, and given that his known wealth had been seized, the existence of this company is now in question. Therefore, it cannot be considered a significant root in Singapore.

On Aug 15, more than 400 officers led by the CAD raided properties in various locations, including Tanglin, Bukit Timah, Orchard Road, Sentosa and River Valley.

Nine men and one woman, all originally from China, were charged the next day with various offences, including money laundering, forgery and resisting arrest.

Among the assets the authorities took control of are 152 properties and 62 vehicles with an estimated value of more than $1.24 billion, money in bank accounts amounting to more than $1.45 billion, and cash in various currencies worth more than $76 million.

DPP Edwin Soh said Wang Dehai, 34, has relatives who are part of a remote gambling business operating from the Philippines and may help him leave the country.

In arguing against bail for Wang Dehai, the prosecutor said his brother-in-law Su Yongcan and his cousin Wang Huoqiang were accomplices who might help him abscond.

The Straits Times reported on Aug 21 that Su Yongcan, 32, and Wang Huoqiang, 29, were said to be on the run in 2018.

Both men are known associates of Wang Dehai and two other accused – Vanuatu national Su Jianfeng, 35, and Cambodian national Su Wenqiang, 31.

Su Yongcan and Wang Huoqiang were among 72 individuals the authorities in China investigated in 2017 as they clamped down on illegal gambling activities.

Wang Dehai, a Cypriot national, faces two charges under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act (CDSA).

He was arrested at his condominium, The Marq on Paterson Hill, near Orchard Road.

He allegedly used proceeds from the illegal online gambling service – which is based in the Philippines and is for customers in China – to buy The Marq apartment for $23 million in November 2019.

He also allegedly possessed $2.3 million from illegal remote gambling offences.

On Wednesday, DPP Soh said investigations show the money can be linked to such illegal gambling operations and that the prosecution has produced credible evidence that Wang Dehai committed the offences stated in the charges.

His lawyer, Ms Megan Chia, said her client’s involvement in remote gambling between 2012 and 2016 was insufficient to prove that he had committed the offences he has been charged with.

DPP Soh said even if remote gambling is legal in the Philippines, Wang Dehai had offered it to people in China, and a wanted notice in China for him made it evident the service is illegal there.

The DPP referred to an affidavit submitted by Ms Chia which stated that Wang Dehai had left China after the wanted notice was issued as he felt the potential sentence would suspend his civil liberties.

With Wang Dehai now facing more serious charges in Singapore, the DPP said he would surely be motivated to abscond to avoid a lengthy prison term.

Su Jianfeng, who faces four money laundering charges, claimed the main source of his wealth was earned as a property agent in Dubai.

DPP Soh said investigations showed that the Vanuatu national’s primary source of wealth was via illegal gambling operations.

Su Jianfeng’s lawyer, Senior Counsel Sreenivasan Narayanan, said his client’s charges are deficient and do not state where or how the alleged gambling offences took place.

Mr Sreenivasan added that his client’s means to abscond have all been seized.

He said if his client were to be granted bail, he could be placed under 24-hour surveillance – which he was willing to pay for.

Said Mr Sreenivasan: “Is our own border so horrible and our own agencies so inefficient that they are going to let somebody walk out of Singapore so easily?”

The four accused’s cases are slated for pre-trial conferences.

Wang Dehai and Su Jianfeng will return to court on Nov 3, while Zhang and Lin will do so on Nov 17.

On Wednesday morning, another of the accused, Cambodian national Chen Qingyuan, 33, was scheduled to have his bail reviewed. But the review was postponed as he had recently changed lawyers.

His new lawyer, Mr Gary Low, said he took over the case 2½ weeks ago and had filed an affidavit for his client on Tuesday. He said the prosecution had indicated it needed up to Nov 3 to respond.

Chen, who faces four charges under the CDSA, will return to court on Nov 17.