On April 29, Su Baolin was sentenced to 14 months’ jail after pleading guilty to three charges. - ILLUSTRATION: ST FILE
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): Su Baolin, one of the 10 foreigners in Singapore’s largest money laundering case, made millions from his role in illegal online gambling operations abroad, said prosecutors.
He got the money into Singapore by funnelling it through his accomplices and cryptocurrency platforms to make it hard for the authorities to detect his crimes.
When the police found a large sum of money in his bungalow, he lied that he had won the money by gambling in casinos.
On April 29, Su was sentenced to 14 months’ jail after pleading guilty to three charges – two for money laundering and one for abetting false representations made to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras).
Su, 42, who is originally from China and holds a Cambodian passport, forfeited about $65 million, or 90 per cent of his assets, to the state.
They include more than $30 million in seven properties, more than $22 million in bank accounts, and jewellery, watches and bags worth a total of over $4 million.
Donations to the tune of $147,800 that Su made to various charities, including Sian Chay Medical Institution and the National Kidney Foundation, were also forfeited.
Su faced a total of 13 charges. The other 10 charges included forgery, making false declarations to the Ministry of Manpower and refusing to sign statements he made at Changi Prison, and were taken into consideration for sentencing.
With one-third remission, Su – who has been in remand since his arrest on Aug 15, 2023 – could be out by end-May.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Eric Hu told the court the police seized about $100 million from Su. After accounting for his liabilities, this amounted to about $72 million worth of assets.
On the day of Su’s arrest, police found about $777,220 in cash in two safes in his good class bungalow (GCB) in Nassim Road.
Su initially told the Commercial Affairs Department he acquired the cash from buying cryptocurrency, and then claimed he won the money by gambling in casinos.
However, DPP Hu said there was reasonable suspicion the cash could be traced to his criminal proceeds.
On Aug 3, 2023, 12 days before Su’s arrest, one of his associates liquidated some cryptocurrency and gave Su a black duffel bag with about $463,000 in cash, said DPP Hu.
He said Su punted on online gambling websites between 2020 and 2023, and received his illegal winnings in cryptocurrency.
Su also supervised online gambling websites between 2019 and 2023, earning cryptocurrency worth $5 million to $6 million.
Su used over $332,200 from these funds to buy a Toyota Alphard Hybrid in 2022.
From 2020 to 2022, as the director of a firm called Xinbao Investment Holdings, Su conspired with Wang Junjie to make inflated representations to Iras on the company’s financial situation.
Su did this to make the firm appear progressively profitable, so that he would have a higher chance of getting permanent residency in Singapore, said DPP Hu.
Su’s lawyers, Mr Sunil Sudheesan and Ms Joyce Khoo, said in their mitigation plea that their client moved to Singapore in 2017 with his wife and four young children. His parents joined them later that year.
Su and his family applied for permanent residency in 2022, but their applications were rejected.
Wang Junjie, a Bedok resident who held various positions in 185 firms, including nine linked to the money laundering case, had his registration as a qualified individual cancelled by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority in January.
The prosecution sought a jail term of between 14 and 16 months for Su, noting in their written sentencing submissions that “(Su) has engaged in an abuse of Singapore’s economic and social infrastructure”.
Su’s lawyers argued for a shorter jail term of 12 months and three weeks.
Mr Sudheesan said the authorities had known in August 2023 that Su faced a risk of cancer, but he underwent a biopsy on his large intestine only in April 2024. The results are not out yet.
As Su was denied bail, Mr Sudheesan said his waiting period behind bars was torturous as he was constantly worried about cancer.
Asking to let his client be released to get treatment, the lawyer said: “He made a mistake, he has admitted to his actions, he accepts responsibility, and he has served his time.”
DPP Hu said that the defence did not show how Su’s condition affected his ability to serve a prison sentence.
As for submitting inflated financial figures to Iras, Mr Sudheesan said Su paid more taxes as a result.
DPP Hu responded, saying this was part of Su’s modus operandi and he should not be sentenced leniently because of this.
In sentencing Su, District Judge Ow Yong Tuck Leong said the courts will send a strong signal that those who engage in money laundering will not be tolerated.
So far, three others in the group have been dealt with.
On April 2, Cambodian national Su Wenqiang, 32, was sentenced to 13 months’ jail. He was the first in the group to be sentenced and faced 11 charges.
Cypriot national Su Haijin, 41, who had jumped from the second-floor balcony of a GCB during a police raid, was sentenced to 14 months’ jail on April 4. He faced 14 charges. The third person, Chinese national Wang Baosen, 32, was sentenced to 13 months’ jail on April 16. He faced eight charges.
Su Haijin forfeited assets worth around $165 million to the state, while Wang Baosen surrendered assets worth around $8 million. Su Wenqiang gave up assets worth more than $5.9 million.
Chinese national Zhang Ruijin, who faces eight charges, is expected to plead guilty on April 30.
