Report says Singapore money laundering suspects spent nearly S$38 million buying Dubai properties

SINGAPORE: A report on Thursday (Dec 19) said that the suspected members of a large-scale money laundering group in Singapore purchased properties in Dubai worth at least US$28 million (S$38 million).

The exclusive report from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), an international network of investigative journalists, cited leaked data as its source.

On Nov 18, the Singapore Police Force said that it had seized the assets of 17 foreign nationals in connection to the investigations that led to the arrest of 10 foreigners in the city-state’s biggest money laundering incident in August 2023. After serving jail time, these 10 people were deported and prohibited from returning to Singapore.

The other 17 nationals were not in Singapore at the time of the investigations. However, SPF said that 15 of the 17 foreign nationals’ cases had been dealt with and they agreed to turn over to the authorities S$1.85 billion worth of assets. They have been barred from returning to the city-state as well. Investigations into the two others are still ongoing, though S$144.9 million worth of assets linked to them have been seized or are the subject of prohibition of disposal orders.

The OCCRP report says that the money laundering network had made billions of dollars from illegal gambling and cyber fraud. An earlier report from the organization said that several individuals linked to the network had also purchased nearly S$81.5 million worth of properties in London.

Its most recent report cited leaked Dubai property data showing that three of the network’s members—Wang Bingang, Chen Zhiqiang, and Ke Wendi— bought at least 22 properties primarily between 2021 and 2023 that have a combined worth of S$38 million at the current exchange rates.

As reported in August 2023, when Singapore police rounded up 10 foreign nationals in the money-laundering ring, Wang, Chen, and Ke are all Chinese, though Chen and Ke are also Cambodian citizens.

According to data obtained by OCCRP, in 2023, Wang and a woman bought five units on the 43rd floor of Seapoint Tower, a 57-story skyscraper in Dubai, for more than S$19 million. The woman, said to be Wang’s wife, has not been named as a suspect in investigations carried out by the SPF.

Chen, meanwhile, bought properties at Mohammed Bin Rashid City, a Dubai development, between 2021 and 2023, worth S$17.65 million.

Ke purchased a unit worth S$1.35 million at a skyscraper called Grande Downtown Dubai. The OCCRP report says that at least four other members of the money laundering network purchased entire floors of the same building.

The whereabouts of Wang Bingang, Chen Zhiqiang, and Ke Wendi have not been disclosed.

The featured photo above of Dubai is from Norlando Pobre (Flickr/Wikimedia)./TISG

Read also: Singapore’s largest money laundering crackdown: 15 foreign nationals surrender $1.85 billion in assets