$3b money laundering case: Man who jumped from GCB balcony during raid gets 14 months' jail

SINGAPORE - Cypriot national Su Haijin, who jumped from the second-floor balcony of a good class bungalow (GCB) during a police raid, has been convicted of resisting arrest and money laundering.

On April 4, the 41-year-old, who faced a total of 14 charges, was sentenced to 14 months' jail.

Su is the second of 10 foreigners linked to Singapore's largest money laundering case to be convicted and sentenced.

He admitted to one charge of resisting arrest and two money laundering charges. Another 11 charges were taken into consideration for his sentencing.

More than $3 billion in cash and assets have been seized in relation to the case so far.

The prosecution, who is seeking 12 to 15 months' jail for Su, said he intends to forfeit 90 per cent of his assets to the state. Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Jean Ting said his assets seized are worth over $171 million.

Seeking not more than 11 months' jail for Su, defence lawyer Julian Tay said his client's seized assets include 13 properties worth around $91 million and all the money in his bank accounts amounting to around $45 million.

He added that in total, more than $165 million worth of assets have been voluntarily surrendered, including gold bars, Bearbricks - which are collectible toy figurines - liquor and jewellery.

The defence lawyer said: "He has given up more than what the charges are referring to and due credit should be given."

Su, who is originally from China, appeared in court via video link at around 2.45pm. He was expressionless as the statement of facts was read out to him.

He has been in remand for about eight months since his arrest on Aug 15, 2023.

Su was arrested in a 32,000 sq ft GCB in Ewart Park in Bukit Timah, which he was renting, when islandwide raids led by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) were conducted on luxury homes across Singapore.

On April 4, DPP Ng said on Aug 15, 2023, at around 6.40am, a team of police officers arrived at Su's home in Ewart Park.

The police identified themselves to his eldest son, who opened the door for them, and asked where Su was. His son led the police to his father's bedroom.

The police asked Su to open the door but he did not respond. The police entered the bedroom, but could not find him.

The DPP said Su had jumped from the bedroom balcony onto the ground floor.

He injured himself and fractured his feet and wrist. Despite this, he hobbled down a flight of stairs to flee his home from the side gate and hid in a drain.

He was found by the police and arrested.

Su underwent surgery for his injuries and appeared via video link in several earlier court mentions from the hospital.

In reference to one of his money laundering charges, the prosecution said Su is the director of Yihao Cyber Technologies, which was a software company incorporated in 2022.

Investigations showed that Yihao Cyber Technologies did not offer any products or services and its office was not occupied.

Between 2019 and 2022, in his capacity as a director, Su conspired with one Wang Jun Jie to prepare false financial statements for Yihao Cyber Technologies. The documents were prepared by Wang under Su's instructions.

The Straits Times reported in September 2023 that Wang held multiple directorships and secretarial and shareholder positions in 185 firms. He had his registration as a qualified individual cancelled by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra) in January.

The DPP said that in 2021, Yihao Cyber Technologies's bank account received over $2 million.

Su was involved in unlawful remote gambling, and there are reasons to believe that funds were proceeds from these illegal remote gambling activities.

The authorities had said in September 2023 that they had seized assets, including properties and cars, worth more than $171 million from Su and his wife, Wu Qin.

She was named in a list sent out by the Ministry of Law in August 2023 to alert dealers of precious metals and stones to the individuals who could be linked to suspicious transactions.

Su also admitted to owning 10 properties abroad worth more than $14.2 million. These include five condos in Macau, three condos in Cyprus, a condo in Cambodia and a building in Oxford Street in London.

He also has partial ownership of a yacht named Family, valued at US$4 million (S$5.4 million).

In their submissions, the prosecution said the amount involved in Su's charges are significant.

The DPP said Su's resistance to his arrest increases his culpability, adding: "He refused to unlock his room door, jumped, and despite being injured, he went downstairs and hid until police found him."

In reference to his charge on resisting arrest, the prosecution added that Su's resistance and behaviour in trying to put himself beyond the reach of the law posed significant risks to the enforcement efforts.

In mitigation, Su's lawyer said while this is Singapore's largest money laundering case, his client has been unfairly associated with the other individuals arrested in the case, "as if he was part of a sinister cartel and syndicate".

Mr Tay said: "(Su), in reality, is no different from any other loving family man. He is a devoted husband of over 20 years in marriage, a loving father to four kids, and his youngest is still an infant."

The lawyer said his client just wanted to live in Singapore and hence relocated his family here around seven years ago.

He added: "He had plans to expand his family. He had big plans to do business here. He had plans to send his very sick father who has end stage renal disease for medical treatment here.

"All these plans came crashing down when he was arrested and held in remand for more than seven months."

On April 2, Cambodian national Su Wenqiang, 32, another of the 10 accused, was sentenced to 13 months in jail after he pleaded guilty to two counts of money laundering. He was the first in the group to be sentenced and faced a total of 11 charges.

He admitted to possessing more than $600,000 in cash - benefits from unlawful remote gambling offences - and using $500,000 in criminal benefits to buy a Mercedes-Benz car.

[[nid:653854]]

Another nine charges were taken into consideration. They included six for money laundering, one for possessing a forged marriage certificate, and two for making false statements to the Ministry of Manpower.

In response to queries from The Straits Times on what will happen to Su Wenqiang after his release, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said on April 4 that foreigners convicted of offences in Singapore will be deported after serving their sentences and barred from re-entering Singapore.

As to which country Su Wenqiang will be sent back to, the ICA spokesman said "the location of deportation is dependent on the admissibility of the foreigner based on his or her valid passport".

Chinese national Wang Baosen, 32, who faces two money laundering charges, is expected to plead guilty on April 16.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.