Chinese nationals linked to gambling and scam centres in Sihanoukville arriving in Wuhan in April, after being deported from Cambodia, in an initiative to combat cross-border crimes. - SCREENGRAB FROM CCTV+/X
SINGAPORE: Convicted money launderer Su Wenqiang may have cause for worry over a possible extradition to China following his deportation from Singapore to Cambodia on May 6, The Straits Times has learnt.
Beijing has an extradition treaty with Phnom Penh, but not with Singapore.
The 32-year-old Cambodian national has been on China’s wanted list since 2017 for illegal online gambling.
In August 2023, Su was nabbed with nine other foreigners in an anti-money laundering operation in Singapore that saw $3 billion in cash and assets seized.
All 10 are said to be originally from China, but nine of them hold Cambodian passports.
They received their Cambodian citizenship between August 2018 and March 2021, according to a gazette published by the Cambodian government, which lists the identity of new citizens.
Amarjit Singh Sidhu, of Amarjit Sidhu Law, said that with an extradition treaty in place, Cambodia may have to oblige if China makes the request.
“The obligation, however, is subject to discretionary refusal, such as on humanitarian grounds,” added Amarjit, who has handled a number of clients who faced deportation from Singapore.
He said that where individuals are deported to would depend on the passport they hold. Su had passports from China, Cambodia and Vanuatu when he was arrested in Singapore.
“Ordinarily, after serving their sentence, they will be deported to their country of origin. This means the country they came from at their last point of disembarkation,” said Amarjit.
Su was deported to Cambodia on May 6 with Wang Baosen, 32.
They were sentenced in April to 13 months’ jail and barred from re-entering Singapore after pleading guilty to two money laundering charges each.
The sentence was backdated to their date of arrest on Aug 15, 2023. When they were sentenced, Su and Wang had each been in remand for about eight months.
With one-third remission, they were released after serving about two-thirds of their sentence, or roughly 8½ months.
Wang was investigated in China in 2015 over his links to illegal online gambling site Hongli International Entertainment, which targeted gamblers in China. However, it is unclear if he was convicted.
Online gambling is illegal in China.
Three others have been convicted – Zhang Ruijin, Su Haijin and Su Baolin. They were sentenced to between 14 and 15 months’ jail, and could be out by June.
The remaining five accused persons have yet to be convicted, though Vang Shuiming and Chen Qingyuan indicated they will plead guilty in May.
It is unclear if they will all be deported to Cambodia, but four of them – Su Jianfeng, Wang Dehai, Chen and Vang – are also wanted by the authorities in China.
They were put on China’s wanted list between 2018 and 2023 for their involvement in criminal activities, including online gambling.
The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority in Singapore said the “location of deportation (of the convicts) is dependent on the admissibility of the foreigner based on his or her valid passport”.
Amarjit said: “The decision process by the authorities is often not disclosed, and they will not reveal why they choose one country over another.”
ST contacted Cambodian Ministry of Interior spokesman Touch Sokhak, who declined to say if Su Wenqiang and Wang Baosen will be detained in Cambodia and sent back to China.
He said the government would examine the facts and make a decision “based on legal aspects”.
In an interview with The Phnom Penh Post, two days after the two men were deported to Cambodia, Sokhak said the government will not shield individuals who break the law, whether in their home country or abroad.
“They must be punished according to the court’s decision. We do not provide protection for criminals who violate national or international laws. Cambodia is governed by the rule of law.
“This means we must respect the laws of the kingdom, as well as the laws of friendly countries,” he added.
Jacob Sims, a visiting expert at the United States Institute of Peace, said that while China clearly wields significant influence over Cambodia both politically and economically, it is not a foregone conclusion that Cambodia will “bow to Beijing on issues of well-connected criminals”.
“It all depends on how badly (or if) China wants them and, equally important, how influential they are in Cambodia’s political-criminal landscape,” he said, adding that Cambodian passports have offered criminals a safe haven for continued criminal activity.
He highlighted the case of Cambodian national She Zhijiang, a China-born gambling kingpin who ran casinos in Cambodia and the Philippines, and operated a firm which ran online gambling houses and scam centres in Myanmar.
She was arrested in August 2022 in Thailand, where he remains in custody. He has been fighting deportation to China on citizenship grounds, arguing that he is no longer a Chinese citizen.
“She is one of the most notorious criminals in the region and likely awaits harsh penalties if extradited to China. Throughout his detention in Thailand, he has lobbied consistently and publicly for deportation to Cambodia.
“He wouldn’t be doing this if he thought he’d then immediately be handed over to the Chinese. For years, She ran vast, lucrative Cambodia-based criminal operations with impunity.
“He was wanted by China during much of this time. She is also not alone,” added Mr Sims.
Cambodia has sent back hundreds of Chinese criminals amid attempts to repair its image as a hub of criminal activities. China has also signalled its intention to jointly combat illegal activities in Cambodia.
On a state visit to Cambodia on Dec 7, 2023, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China is ready to work with Cambodia to crack down on online gambling and transnational crimes.
Wang reiterated in another visit on April 21, 2024 that the two countries should jointly combat illegal activities and thoroughly eradicate related criminal gangs.
That same month, Cambodia repatriated about 680 Chinese nationals linked to multiple gambling and scam centres in Sihanoukville, according to Chinese media reports.
Over five days in April, groups of Chinese nationals were put on China Eastern Airlines planes and sent to the Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan, Central China’s Hubei Province.
China’s state-controlled media Global Times reported on April 21 that China’s Ministry of Public Security has also deployed Hubei police personnel to investigate the suspects.
A total of 1,011 Chinese nationals were deported from Cambodia in 2023, according to a Jan 3, 2024 report from The Cambodia China Times, which quoted official figures from Cambodia’s immigration authorities.
The Chinese nationals were the biggest group among the 2,159 foreigners from 39 countries who were deported from Cambodia that year due to criminal activities.
The foreigners implicated in the S$3 billion case in Singapore had varied business interests in Cambodia, according to a search of business records.
Su Haijin was listed as the chairman of Cambodian company Su Zigen Chengmei, which lists its address on a street in Phnom Penh.
People around the area, including the police, told ST they had never heard of the company. The building could not be located at the stated address.
It was a similar finding for Su Jianfeng, who was the director of Cambodian company Great Rise Personnel Consultant, with an address in a building in Tuol Kouk in Phnom Penh, an area known for its large expat community.
The building has multiple shops and offices, but Great Rise Personnel Consultant was not listed as an occupant. A guard working there said he had not heard of the company before.
Vang, whom the Chinese authorities hope could assist in investigations into the Heng Bo Bao Wang gambling syndicate, was the chairman of Cambodian company Daming IT Services.
The company is supposedly located in a village in Kampong Speu, 80km west of Phnom Penh. ST found factories which produce plastic and metal there, but no sign of Daming IT Services.
The area’s village chief said: “The place is owned by Cambodians, but the Chinese rent them. More than 70ha is rented by Chinese companies.”
One of the money laundering suspects, Wang Dehai, and another man linked to the Heng Bo Bao Wang syndicate, Wang Shuiting, were named as two of eight directors of Cambodian-registered company S.C.W.D. Construction.
The firm shares the address with Skykey International Company, which is linked to Chen.
The area has warehouses, factories and an abandoned hotel. People there, however, said they had never heard of S.C.W.D. Construction and Skykey International Company.
Similarly, Chen’s other company, Haocai Investment, was unknown to people in the village it is supposed to be located in.
Chen’s registered residential address in Chamkarmon, Phnom Penh – a prime residential district – is a five-storey building resembling a pagoda with white balconies.
While ST was observing the house, a black jeep drove out. A black luxury car also dropped by. A red car was parked inside the property.
People in the area said the building is owned by a “powerful person” with many houses for rent, and whose children worked for the military and police.
A guard at the house said it was previously leased to a Chinese company, but the owner has since moved back. He did not divulge the identity of the owner. - The Straits Times/ANN
