Singapore's $3 billion money laundering case concludes as final defendant is jailed.
In a landmark legal ruling, the last defendant involved in Singapore's biggest-ever money laundering case was given a 17-month jail sentence on Monday.
Su Jianfeng pleaded guilty last week to one count of money laundering under Singapore's Corruption, Drug Trafficking, and Other Serious Crimes Act, as well as one count of forgery. Additionally, he agreed to forfeit a massive S$178.9 million (US$132 million) in assets to the authorities.
His first charge involved possessing S$551K (US$407K), which prosecutors claim came from running an illegal gambling operation in the Philippines. The second charge was for fraudulently using a forged property-sale contract to explain the origin of funds in his bank account.
A Stunning Scandal
The case stunned Singapore when it emerged in August 2023, with Su being a key player in a S$3 billion (US$2.2 billion) money laundering operation that authorities believe involved hundreds of individuals.
Though he's the last defendant facing sentencing, others remain at large, and authorities suspect a larger network may exist. The nine other defendants in the case received prison sentences ranging from 12 to 16 months.
Some questions remain regarding how these individuals were able to launder such huge sums through Singapore's banking system without detection and invest in various Singaporean companies, thereby concealing funds generated from illegal gambling and scam enterprises based abroad.
The Fujan Clan
Though all defendants hailed from China's Fujan province, some were found to hold passports from countries like Cambodia, Cyprus, and Dominica — places where individuals can purchase citizenship as part of an "investment scheme."
Su, officially a joint citizen of Vanuatu, entered Singapore with his family in 2019 and claimed to be a Dubai-based property dealer. Before relocating, he'd lived in Malaysia and the Philippines, where online gambling operations were headquartered but moved to the city-state for his children's education.
The Forged Document
In August 2021, when questioned by Su's bank about two suspicious deposits worth around S$2 million, he handed over a fake Dubai property sales contract. In addition to the accepted charge of S$550,903, prosecutors sought to take three more charges into account: two involving S$5 million each and one worth S$7 million.
"These charges show the magnitude and significance of the defendant's crimes and reveal a severe disregard for the law on his part," said chief prosecutor Tan Kiat Pheng.
"The swift prosecution of these 10 cases sends a clear message to potential criminals: Singapore will not tolerate attempts to break our laws," he continued.
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