Last foreigner in $3B money laundering scandal deported; S$187 million in assets seized

SINGAPORE – The final chapter of Singapore’s largest money laundering saga has been closed with the deportation of Su Jianfeng, the last of the 10 individuals convicted in the staggering S$3 billion money laundering case.

Su, a 36-year-old Vanuatu national with ties to Fujian, China, was sent packing to Cambodia on July 26, with strict orders from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) barring him from ever setting foot in Singapore again.

Su’s departure marks the end of a high-profile legal battle that saw the city-state’s luxury property market under the spotlight, as foreign nationals were implicated in buying up high-end real estate with illicit funds.

The case, which concluded in June, involved a dizzying array of assets, from hard cash and luxury properties to branded goods, cryptocurrency, and even alcohol, totaling billions of dollars.

Su Jianfeng received the lengthiest jail term

Su, who received the longest jail term of 17 months among his cohorts, had pleaded guilty to charges of possessing criminal benefits and fraudulently using a property sale contract to launder money. Despite facing 13 charges, he managed to avoid a harsher sentence.

However, the authorities seized a whopping S$187 million worth of assets linked to him, including cash, properties, vehicles, luxury goods, cryptocurrency, and alcohol. In a bid to mitigate his sentence, Su agreed to forfeit at least 95% of the seized assets to the state, a significant blow to his financial empire.

The saga doesn’t end with Su alone. Eight other individuals, including Zhang Ruijin, Su Baolin, Su Haijin, Su Wenqiang, Wang Baosen, Chen Qingyuan, and Lin Baoying, were also deported to Cambodia. Zhang, however, was swiftly expelled from Cambodia, with his destination unknown, though it’s noted he holds a passport from Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Case closed?

The remaining two convicts, Vang Shuiming and Wang Dehai, were deported to Japan and the United Kingdom, respectively, bringing this international money laundering operation to a close.

The case serves as a stark reminder of the lengths to which individuals will go to launder money, and the international cooperation required to bring such operations to justice. With S$944 million in assets seized and forfeited to the state, Singapore has sent a clear message that it will not tolerate financial crimes within its borders.

TISG/