Sun Xueling on proportionality of sentences meted out in money laundering case

In Parliament on Tuesday (Jul 2), Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling responded to an MP’s question about the proportionality of sentences meted out to the perpetrators of Singapore’s biggest money laundering case. She said the Government’s role is to consider whether the existing range of sentences is adequate - and that this had been dealt with in the House previously. The actual sentences in individual cases are decided by the Courts based on the facts of each case and the submissions by the prosecution and defence. Ms Sun noted that although this case is often referred to in the media as the “S$3 billion money laundering case”, the amounts and charges involved vary. The sentences meted out have also been comparable to sentences imposed in other jurisdictions. Citing the example of convicted offender Su Haijin, she pointed out that S$165 million, or about 95 per cent of the assets linked to him and his wife, were forfeited to the state, and that this voluntary forfeiture went beyond the amounts for which charges had been brought.