GEIS-新闻详情

Assets involved in money laundering case nearly double to $1.8b: Prosecutors

2023-09-08 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-新加坡原网页

SINGAPORE - The police have taken control of more than $1.8 billion in assets as they continue to investigate one of the largest money laundering cases in Singapore, prosecutors told the High Court on Tuesday.

The update in the value of assets that have been seized, frozen, or issued with prohibition of disposal orders came about at a hearing where one of the 10 people who have been charged in the case argued for bail to be granted.

The order blocks the sale of assets that are the subject of a police investigation.

Turkish national Vang Shuiming, 42, currently faces five charges, one for using a forged document and four for money laundering.

Vang, who is also known as Wang Shuiming, is alleged to have submitted a forged bank statement to Citibank Singapore in March 2021 as supporting documentation.

The four money laundering charges relate to about $2.4 million held in four UOB and RHB bank accounts. The sums are said to be criminal benefits from an unlicensed moneylending business in China, based on charges filed against him.

Vang, who also has passports from China and Vanuatu, was arrested in a good class bungalow in Bishopsgate, which is in the Tanglin area, on Aug 15.

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He was among the nine men and one woman, aged between 31 and 44, who were nabbed following an islandwide raid by more than 400 officers led by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD). At the time, the value of assets involved stood at about $1 billion.

All 10 individuals have been remanded in custody since they were charged in court on Aug 16.

At each subsequent court mention, on Aug 23 and on Aug 30, they were ordered to be remanded for a further period of eight days, after prosecutors raised concerns over collusion and interference with investigations.

Vang filed an application to the High Court, asking for these orders to be revoked and that he be granted bail.

On Tuesday, after hearing arguments, Justice Vincent Hoong dismissed Vang’s bid to be released on bail.

The judge said there was nothing palpably wrong with the orders made by the district court and there was no “serious injustice” that justified revoking the lower court’s orders.

Justice Hoong said: “In my view, based on the details of the pending investigation, and the CAD’s reasons for its assessment that there was a real risk of collusion and contamination of evidence, there was clearly a need for the applicant to be further remanded for a period of eight days.”

Vang’s lawyer Wendell Wong had argued that his client’s fundamental liberties of freedom and right to counsel are being curtailed by the orders for him to be remanded.

Mr Wong also argued to be granted “liberal access” to his client, should Vang continue to be remanded.

Justice Hoong said that Vang had been granted access to counsel, subject to the operational constraints of the CAD, and there was nothing to stop Mr Wong from writing to the CAD or the prosecution to make specific requests.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Yiwen argued that the orders for Vang to be remanded were correctly made, given that the case involved a complex and wide-scale investigation into serious financial crimes.

He said extensive investigations remained to be carried out, including the need to record further statements and conduct checks with the foreign authorities.

He noted that the charges brought against Vang were only in respect of a small part of the accused’s total assets, for which funds tracing was ongoing.

The prosecutor said Vang, together with his brother Wang Shuiting, are wanted by the Chinese authorities for illegal gambling activities.

There is also evidence that Vang is closely associated with two of the other accused persons, namely Su Haijin, a Cypriot national, and Su Baolin, a Cambodian national, said the prosecutor.

He added that investigations revealed communications between Vang and another suspect, who is wanted by the police and out of jurisdiction, which appear to be in respect of other illegal activities.

There was a real risk that if Vang was released on bail, he and the suspect would collude to contaminate evidence, given that significant assets were seized from both of them, said the prosecutor.

More than $200 million in assets have been seized from Vang, including $962,000 in cash found at his home. The prosecutor added that Vang has purchased 11 properties.

The assets seized from the suspect amounted to $260 million.

The prosecutor added that foreign intelligence led to the uncovering of more than US$30 million (S$40.8 million) in assets that were previously not known.

The Straits Times has found that Vang is the director and shareholder of Zhuo Chi Technology, a firm in Singapore that purportedly deals in software development.

A search of business records showed that he was also the shareholder of Ming Xin (Singapore) Technologly, which was struck off in 2021.

Vang was granted Cambodian citizenship on in March 2019 and is the chairman of Cambodian company Daming IT Services.

According to a notice put up by the Chinese authorities in 2023, he is wanted in China to assist in investigations into the Heng Bo Bao Wang gambling syndicate that was uncovered in 2022.

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