Man accused of laundering another S$477,000, possessing forged marriage cert for pass application

SINGAPORE: A man implicated in the billion-dollar money laundering probe was on Monday (Jan 29) handed seven more charges that accuse him of laundering about S$477,000 (US$355,770) in illicit proceeds by paying for five-figure rents and purchasing luxury goods.

Su Wenqiang is also accused of possessing a forged marriage certificate from China which he had intended to use in a dependent pass application to Singapore's Ministry of Manpower.

The 32-year-old man - who is listed as Cambodian in charge sheets but whose passport states he is from Fujian, China - now faces nine charges in total.

The six fresh money-laundering charges state that he used illicit proceeds from his illegal remote gambling service based in the Philippines to buy the following:

• Seven luxury bags and pieces of jewellery purchased for S$26,065.30 between November 2021 and December 2021
• 17 unspecified luxury goods purchased for S$72,152 between January 2022 and May 2023
• 30 bottles of Kweichow Moutai and 12 bottles of "18 years Macallan Scotch Whiskey" bought for S$18,600 between December 2021 and August 2023
• Monthly rent and security deposit of a landed house in Lewis Road amounting to S$276,000 for the period between November 2022 and August 2023
• Monthly rent for a condominium apartment at Orchard By-The-Park consisting S$35,877 between October 2021 and December 2021
• Monthly rent for a condominium apartment at Orchard By-The-Park consisting S$48,000 for a separate period between January 2022 and April 2022

These seven new charges are on top of Su's existing two charges. They are for having S$601,706 (US$441,000) that comes at least in part from illegal remote gambling offences, and using S$500,000 in illegal proceeds to buy a Mercedes Benz AMG C63S in January 2022.

According to past court hearings, Su was arrested on Aug 15 after an islandwide police raid linked to money-laundering offences. 

An investigating officer on Su's case alleged that Su was wanted in China and worked as an executive in a remote lottery business operating from the Philippines and Cambodia.

Su has passports from China, Cambodia and Vanuatu. His lawyers previously said he had two young children and that he had moved them to Singapore with the intention of living here permanently and being educated here.

Su has been remanded since August 2023, with previous requests for bail rejected.

He will return for a pre-trial conference in February.