SU WENQIANG, one of the 10 foreign nationals embroiled in the over S$3 billion money laundering case, was sentenced to 13 months’ jail on Tuesday (Apr 2), the first of the group to be handed a jail term.
He pleaded guilty to two charges of money laundering involving assets of more than S$500,000. Another nine charges were taken into consideration in sentencing.
In his judgment, Senior District Judge Ong Hian Sun sentenced Su to 13 months’ jail for the first charge of possessing S$601,706 in cash, which were proceeds from operating an unlawful remote gambling service in the Philippines. For the second charge, where Su paid S$500,000 for a Mercedes-Benz using criminal proceeds, he was sentenced to a jail term of 12 months.
Both sentences are to run concurrently and were backdated to Aug 15, 2023.
Su, a Cambodian passport holder, faced a total of 11 charges – eight money laundering charges involving nearly S$1.6 million, as well as three charges related to falsely applying for work passes from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
He was handed seven more charges in January this year, including six related to using around S$476,700 in criminal proceeds to purchase luxury goods, jewellery and alcohol, as well as pay the rent of an apartment at condominium Orchard By-The-Park, and the rent and deposit of a landed house on Lewis Road in Bukit Timah.
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The remaining three charges were related to him attempting to cheat MOM. A charge Su received in January stated he forged a Chinese marriage certificate stating he had married one Su Yanping in China in May 2018, when no such marriage registration was made.
The charge sheet noted that the certificate was intended to be fraudulently used in a Dependant’s Pass application to MOM.
Su was also said to have applied for an Employment Pass in February 2022, and declared that he was hired as a sales director by Fleur Business Service, although he had no intention of being employed there.
The final charge stated he had engaged in a conspiracy in February 2022 with an individual known as “Wen Wen” to obtain a work pass for Su Yanping.
Su had purportedly instructed “Wen Wen” to apply for an Employment Pass on Su Yanping’s behalf and declare that she would be employed by Ju You Family Office, but she was not.
He is represented by Gabriel Law Corporation’s Manoj Nandwani and Sameer Amir Melber.
He is among nine men and one woman who were nabbed in an island-wide anti-money laundering blitz in August last year. The assets seized in the case have swelled to over S$3 billion, from S$1 billion at the time.
Su, who was arrested at a Good Class Bungalow along Lewis Road, had over S$2.6 million worth of assets seized in the raid. This includes over S$600,000 in cash and other foreign currencies, 11 electronic devices, 16 luxury bags and watches and 11 pieces of jewellery.
Eight bank accounts containing more than S$10 million and other foreign currencies also were frozen.
Prohibition of dispoal orders were also issued for two vehicles with an estimated value of more than S$580,000, and for multiple bottles of liquor or wine, which means they cannot be sold.
Among the 10 accused, two are expected to plead guilty – former No Signboard Holdings director Su Haijin will return to court on Apr 4, while Wang Baosen has a court mention fixed for Apr 16.
