Billion-dollar money laundering case: Three men deported to Japan, Cambodia

SINGAPORE: Three of the men convicted in Singapore's multibillion-dollar money laundering crackdown have been deported, said the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) on Sunday (Jun 2). 

Cambodian national Su Baolin and Cypriot national Su Haijin were respectively deported to Cambodia on May 25 and May 28.

Turkish national Vang Shuiming was deported to Japan on Saturday. 

"All three men are barred from re-entering Singapore," said ICA. 

ICA did not elaborate on why the men were deported to Cambodia or Japan. However, it previously said that the location of deportation was dependent on the "admissibility of the foreigner" based on their valid passport. 

Vang was listed as a Turkish national in court documents but also had passports from China and Vanuatu. 

The three men were among 10 people arrested in an islandwide police operation in August 2023 after police were tipped off about possible illicit activities by a group of foreign nationals. 

Eight of them have since been convicted and including the three deportations confirmed by ICA on Sunday, a total of five of them have been expelled from Singapore.

The first two to be deported - Su Wenqiang and Wang Baosen - were sent to Cambodia on May 6. 

Su Wenqiang is a Cambodian national whose passport states that he is from Fujian, China, while Wang is a Chinese national.

THREE LATEST DEPORTATIONS

Su Baolin, 42, pleaded guilty to three out of 13 charges and was sentenced to 14 months' jail in April. Two charges were related to money laundering while the other was for making false representations to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS). 

More than S$3 billion in assets were seized or frozen in relation to his case, likely making it one of the largest money laundering operations in the world. 

Around S$100 million worth of assets, consisting of cash, vehicles, properties, luxury items, and alcohol were seized from Su during investigations. This included about S$3 million in proceeds from the sale of vehicles such as a Ferrari 488 Spider, Rolls Royce Phantom and Bentley Flying Spur. 

Authorities also confiscated jewellery worth about S$2 million and two country club memberships. 

Su Haijin, 41, was also sentenced to 14 months in jail in April.

During the raid last year, he jumped off a second-floor balcony at his residence in Ewart Park in an effort to evade arrest. 

He fractured both feet and injured his wrist, but managed to hobble down a flight of steps and escape through a side gate. Su then hid in a drain where he was later found and arrested. 

Su pleaded guilty to three out of 14 charges. These were for resisting lawful arrest and possessing around S$1.4 million in criminal proceeds through a shell company Yihao Cyber Technologies.

About S$170 million worth of assets consisting of cash, vehicles and luxury items were seized from Su.

These included 21 bank accounts containing about S$45.6 million, 13 properties including two Sentosa houses and three North Bridge Road shophouses, as well as variety of vehicles and luxury items. 

Vang, who was sentenced to 13 months and six weeks' jail in May, is the suspect with the highest number of charges in the money laundering case. 

The 43-year-old faced 22 charges and pleaded guilty to three of them. His offences include possessing about S$2.4 million in suspected criminal proceeds, and the use of documents he had reason to believe were forged.

Vang voluntarily forfeited about S$180 million in assets to the state. This is the largest amount that any accused person in the money laundering case has forfeited so far.

It came out of more than S$198 million in assets seized from him, including assets that he paid for but were held in the name of his wife, Wang Ruiyan.

These included 10 apartments in Clarke Quay and one at Tomlinson Road that are under construction, and four apartments in the Beach Road area.