Su Wenqiang, who is originally from China and holds a Cambodian passport, now faces nine charges in total. - PHOTO: CHINA POLICE via The Straits Times/ANN
SINGAPORE: Su Wenqiang, one of the 10 foreigners accused in Singapore’s largest money laundering case, was handed seven new charges on Jan 29.
Su, 31, who is originally from China and holds a Cambodian passport, now faces nine charges in total.
Six of Su’s new charges accuse him of using around S$476,700 in benefits from criminal conduct to buy items such as bags, jewellery and alcohol, and to pay his rent for a landed property and condominium.
He had allegedly derived the illicit proceeds from operating an unlawful remote gambling service based in the Philippines for people in China.
Su’s seventh new charge accuses him of having a forged marriage certificate from China that stated he had registered his marriage with Su Yanping on May 20, 2018, when no such registration had been made.
The charge adds that Su had intended to pass off the certificate as genuine in his dependant’s pass application to the Singapore's Ministry of Manpower.
Su was one of 10 foreigners arrested on Aug 15, 2023, in an anti-money laundering probe that has now seen more than S$3 billion in assets seized. He was nabbed in a good class bungalow in Bukit Timah.
He was charged on Aug 16 with possessing $601,706, which is said to represent his benefits from operating the unlawful gambling service.
He was handed another charge on Aug 30 for allegedly buying a Mercedes-Benz AMG C63S car using S$500,000 in criminal proceeds.
Su was denied bail on Nov 2.
The 10 suspects are (clockwise from top left) Su Baolin, Su Haijin, Chen Qingyuan, Su Wenqiang, Lin Baoying, Zhang Ruijin, Wang Dehai, Su Jianfeng, Vang Shuiming and Wang Baosen. - ST ILLUSTRATIONS: CEL GULAPA
During the hearing, his lawyer, Mr Sameer Amir Melber, revealed that Su came to Singapore in 2021 with his wife and children, aged five and six, as he wanted his children to be educated here.
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 added that Su was recruited to be an executive at a remote lottery business operating from the Philippines and Cambodia. 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.
In denying Su bail, District Judge Brenda Tan said he is neither a Singapore citizen nor a permanent resident here, and owns passports from Cambodia, China and Vanuatu.
She added that Su’s parents live in China and his family members are foreigners, showing he has no deep roots in Singapore.
The judge noted that Su has accomplices at large who may help him abscond.
The police have seized two vehicles with an estimated value of at least S$584,000 in Su Yanping’s name 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 that is registered to Su Yanping.
Su will return to court for a pre-trial conference on Feb 1. - The Straits Times/ANN
