Billion-dollar money laundering case: Man who jumped off balcony during raid set to plead guilty

SINGAPORE: A man who jumped off a balcony during a raid to arrest suspects linked to a billion-dollar money laundering probe is set to plead guilty.

Su Haijin, a 41-year-old man listed as Cypriot in charge sheets, was given a date to plead guilty on Apr 4 following a criminal case disclosure conference on Friday (Mar 22).

A criminal case disclosure conference is a formal system where both sides disclose information about the case – including outlining their cases and the evidence they will be relying on – to facilitate the trial process.

This makes Su Haijin the second of 10 people charged over the case to indicate an intention to plead guilty.

The first was Su Wenqiang, who had a guilty plea hearing fixed for Apr 2 after a pre-trial conference on Mar 7.

Su Haijin, a former director of restaurant operator No Signboard Holdings, is represented by Mr Julian Tay from Lee & Lee and faces two charges.

He was first charged with resisting arrest. The charge alleges that he refused to open his room door on Aug 15 last year at a Good Class Bungalow at Ewart Park and instead exited the room via the second-floor balcony.

He fractured his heels, femur and wrist and appeared in court for several mentions via videolink from Changi General Hospital.

The second charge, levied against Su Haijin in September, alleges that he had about S$4.06 million in a UOB bank account around August 2023 that were his benefits from illegal remote gambling offences.

The penalties for resisting arrest are a jail term of up to a year, a fine, or both.

For possessing benefits from criminal conduct, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years, fined up to S$500,000, or both.

The cases for the remaining eight accused are pending, with most of them at the pre-trial conference stage - a type of administrative hearing.