Su Wenqiang, who was arrested at a good class bungalow in Bukit Timah on Aug 15, 2023, faces two money laundering charges. - CHINA POLICE
SINGAPORE: A date has been set for one of the 10 accused in Singapore’s largest money laundering case to plead guilty. Su Wenqiang, 32, a Cambodian national, is scheduled for a plead guilty mention on April 2.
According to court records, he is expected to appear via video link.
On March 7, after a pre-trial conference, his lawyer Sameer Amir Melber confirmed with The Straits Times the plead guilty date is April 2.
He declined to provide more details.
Su Wenqiang faces a total of 11 charges.
He was arrested during the initial raid on Aug 15, 2023, at a good class bungalow in Lewis Road, and was found with passports from Cambodia, Vanuatu and China.
He was charged the next day with two counts of money laundering relating to a property and a Mercedes allegedly paid for using monies from illegal remote gambling services in the Philippines that targeted people in China.
On Jan 29, he was handed another seven charges, including six for using his benefits from crime to buy items such as bags, jewellery and alcohol, and to pay rent for a landed property and a condominium.
The seventh charge was for allegedly having a forged China marriage certificate showing he married his wife in May 2018.
Two days later on Jan 31, he was given another two charges for making false statements in applications for work and employment passes, including for engaging with someone to obtain a work pass for his wife.
Su Wenqiang has been held in remand for almost seven months since his arrest.
He is married to Su Yanping, who is a person of interest in the case, and they have two young children. The family moved from China to Singapore in 2021.
The police have seized two vehicles with an estimated total value of at least $584,000 in Su Yanping’s name and more than $2 million in her bank account.
Su Wenqiang also has substantial wealth overseas, including a house in Xiamen worth around $1.9 million that is registered to Su Yanping.
He is linked to a gambling gang with two other accused persons, Wang Dehai and Su Jianfeng, and also to two other persons of interest, Su Yongcan and Wang Huoqiang.
Cypriot Wang Dehai, 35, faces two charges, while Vanuatuan Su Jianfeng, 35, faces six charges.
Singapore warrants of arrest and Interpol red notices have been issued against Cambodians Su Yongcan, 33, and Wang Huoqiang, 29, for money laundering offences.
The pair reportedly left Singapore before the raid on Aug 15, 2023.
Those with information on their whereabouts should call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000.
A list containing the details of the 10 accused persons, along with another 24 related persons, was circulated in August 2023 by the authorities to financial institutions and dealers of precious stones and metals for them to flag and report any transactions involving those on the list.
Checks by ST found that many of those on the list have shared interests in properties and companies in Singapore and overseas, and also hold passports from multiple countries.
The assets seized in Singapore’s largest money laundering case that saw 10 foreigners arrested in August 2023 are now worth more than $3 billion.
The police said on Jan 19 that they have issued prohibition of disposal orders on another 55 properties and 15 vehicles. An additional 189 luxury bags, 34 pieces of jewellery and five luxury watches were also seized.
The assets confiscated by the authorities so far include a total of 207 properties, 77 vehicles, more than $1.45 billion in bank accounts, and more than $76 million in cash in various currencies. - The Straits Times/ANN
