Billion-dollar money laundering case: Luxury handbags and 58 gold bars among items handed to Deloitte for liquidation

SINGAPORE: Luxury handbags, watches and gold bars that were seized during the S$3 billion (US$2.33 billion) money laundering case were among the assets handed over by the police to Deloitte for liquidation on Tuesday (Aug 12).

The money laundering case, which came to light following islandwide police raids in August 2023, involved millions of dollars earned over the years from an illicit gambling ring based in Southeast Asia.

The offenders – nine men and one woman – hailed from China and had criminal backgrounds. All have been convicted and were deported after serving their sentences.

On Tuesday, the media were invited to observe how the confiscated assets, which were placed on display at the Police Cantonment Complex, were handed over to staff members from Deloitte by officers from the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD). 

In total, 466 luxury goods items and 58 gold bars were handed over across two days. These include about 50 branded bags that appear to be made by Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Dior and Chanel. 

Among the handbags are: a Hermes Birkin 25 Togo bag with an estimated value of S$30,000, and a Hermes Kelly Alligator bag that can cost between S$70,000 and S$120,000, according to online listings by brokers such as Sotheby's. 

There were also at least 14 luxury watches from brands such as Patek Philippe, Richard Mille, Van Cleef & Arpels, Rolex and Audemars Piguet. 

One of the watches seen is a Patek Philippe World Time Chronograph, which has an estimated value of S$120,000. There was also a Richard Mille RM 67, which fetches an estimated value of over S$400,000, according to online marketplace Chrono24. 

Also on display were the gold bars, at least 13 cases of jewellery pieces, such as earrings, bracelets, jade necklaces, at least one gold display plate and one luxury belt. 

In a statement on Tuesday, the police said it has appointed Deloitte & Touche Financial Advisory Services for the “management and realisation of the non-cash assets seized in relation to the S$3 billion money laundering case”. 

To facilitate this, police said they are progressively handing over all remaining non-cash assets, which have yet to be liquidated to Deloitte.

Between Aug 11 and 12, the police handed over 466 pieces of luxury goods and 58 pieces of gold bars to Deloitte.

CNA observed how CAD officers handled the handover of the assets to Deloitte staff members, who then disassembled the luxury bags into their components.

After the parts are photographed, the items are then packaged into brown bags. 

For watches, they underwent a brief inspection where staff members wrote some of their details down, before being stored in their case and placed into transparent bags. 

The gold bars – each weighing 1kg and valued at around S$139,000 per bar – were likewise inspected by Deloitte staff members and then carefully placed into small transparent bags.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE ITEMS? 

Following the handover, Deloitte will securely store the assets and eventually look to sell the items. 

Police have said that non-cash assets will be sold via channels such as auctions. Proceeds of the sales, along with forfeited cash, will go into Singapore's consolidated fund. The fund is akin to a bank account held by the government.

The other S$2 billion or so seized assets that make up the S$3 billion figure comes from 17 other suspects on the run and outside of Singapore's jurisdiction.

In February, it was announced that a total of 54 properties, 33 vehicles and 11 country club memberships were liquidated as of December 2024.  

Home Affairs Minister and then-Law Minister K Shanmugam said then that about S$1.8 million has been paid into the consolidated fund as of December 2024. 

The consolidated fund is similar to a bank account held by the government. According to the Parliament website, Singapore's revenues are paid into this fund and it is also used to fund government spending.

Another S$390 million, which includes proceeds from the liquidation, is pending similar payment into the consolidated fund in the 2024 financial year.

As of December 2024, assets amounting to about S$2.79 billion have been surrendered to the state, said the minister. 

Of this, S$1.54 billion was in cash or financial assets, said Mr Shanmugam, adding that the rest were in non-cash assets. These include properties, vehicles and luxury items.