Singapore secures last conviction in $2bn money laundering case

Singapore has convicted the final person in a record S$3bn ($2.23bn) money laundering case that cast uncomfortable scrutiny on the Asian business hub’s embrace of foreign wealth and put pressure on its clean reputation.

On Friday, Wang Dehai became the last of 10 Chinese nationals arrested in the case last August to plead guilty and was sentenced to 16 months in prison.

The investigation, which was linked to online gambling in Asia, involved island-wide raids and the seizure of gold bars, expensive wines, crypto assets, designer handbags and luxury cars, as well as the arrest of the 10 individuals — including one who jumped out of a second-storey window in an attempt to escape police.

The investigation rocked Singapore, which prides itself on its strong anti-money laundering regime and clean reputation, and prompted questions over how those involved operated for years while splashing their wealth in the city-state.

Sentences for the individuals convicted in the case have ranged from 13 to 16 months in prison and a number have been deported to countries including Cambodia and Japan. One had his sentencing adjourned to Monday and will probably receive a 17 to 18-month sentence.

“The public has the perception that the sentences seem lighter or not aligned with the charges put forward given the sums involved and given the case itself is unprecedented,” said Suang Wijaya, a partner at law firm Eugene Thuraisingam. But he added the prosecution considered other aspects, including the state resources saved by the accused pleading guilty.

The more than S$3bn of assets seized in the case belonged to 27 people, with 17 still at large outside the country, according to police. The individuals who were apprehended held passports from a range of countries — many with golden passport regimes — including Cambodia, Vanuatu, Turkey, St Kitts and Nevis, Dominica and Cyprus.

However, all were later identified as originating from Fujian province in China and also held Chinese passports.

Investigators in the case had asked several banks, including Malaysia’s CIMB and Citigroup’s local subsidiary, to provide documents. Police also took control of millions of dollars held in accounts with Credit Suisse and Bank Julius Baer by one of the suspects and questioned real estate agents and precious metals dealers.

Singapore’s government said last year it might impose anti-money laundering controls on luxury assets, including cars, watches and handbags and also increase scrutiny of mushrooming single family offices — funds which manage private wealth — as a result of the scandal.

“The length of the sentences meted out in individual cases might look short relative to the eye-popping total sums of money laundered, S$3bn, but are actually in line with legal precedent in similar white collar cases in Singapore,” said Remy Choo, a white-collar defence lawyer and managing director of Singapore law firm RCL Chambers Law Corporation.

“The discrepancy between public perception and legal reality arises because the underlying offences for illegal online gambling occurred overseas, and the prosecutions in Singapore were not brought to prosecute those underlying offences,” Choo added.

Eugene Tan, associate professor of law at Singapore Management University, said the convictions and resulting deportations, as well as the asset forfeitures, had been obtained “without a long drawn-out court case”.

“All these took place in under a year, ensuring that state resources can be better deployed elsewhere,” Tan said.