A man who is among the 10 people charged in relation to a multi billion-dollar money laundering case in Singapore is set to plead guilty.
He is the first in the group to make such an indication, with several others stating through their lawyers in previous court mentions that they would likely be claiming trial.
A date for Su Wenqiang to plead guilty was set for April 2, after a pre-trial conference was held in chambers on Thursday.
Authorities have seized more than S$2.8 billion (US$2.1 billion) in assets including gold bars, jewellery, 62 cars and 152 properties. The tally may rise, with many suspects still on the loose.
Massive laundering case reveals dark side of Singapore’s bid to lure super-rich
Massive laundering case reveals dark side of Singapore’s bid to lure super-rich
Su, 33, is listed as Cambodian in charge sheets but his passport states that he is from Fujian, China.
He faces a total of 11 charges, a mix of money-laundering, possessing proceeds from illegal remote gambling offences and lying to get work passes for himself and his wife.
The charges accuse Su of:
Having S$601,706 (US$441,000) that comes at least in part from illegal remote gambling offences
Using S$500,000 in illegal proceeds to buy a Mercedes-Benz AMG C63S in January 2022
Laundering about S$477,000 in illicit proceeds from the Philippines-based illegal remote gambling service by buying luxury bags, jewellery, liquor and paying for rents of luxury houses and condominium units
Lying in an application for an employment pass in February 2022 that he would be employed as a sales director by Fleur Business Service
Conspiring with another person to obtain a work pass for his wife, Su Yanping
According to past court hearings, an investigating officer on Su’s case said he was wanted in China and worked as an executive in a remote lottery business operating from the Philippines and Cambodia.
He has passports from China, Cambodia and Vanuatu and moved his two young children to Singapore with the intention of living here permanently and having them educated here.
He has been remanded for more than six months since his arrest in August last year.
The group of nine men and one woman, mostly originally from China, were caught in an island-wide raid by police.
‘A wake-up call’: Singapore’s US$740 million laundering case exposes loopholes
‘A wake-up call’: Singapore’s US$740 million laundering case exposes loopholes
The broader case revolves around a remote gambling operation based in the Philippines, targeting punters in China.
Some of the suspects were listed in wanted notices in China, but managed to set up shop in Singapore, with some running alleged shell companies from as early as 2019.
Checks of court records show that the other nine accused in the case are still at the pre-trial conference or case management conference stages.
This article was first published by CNA
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
