🏦 Singapore money laundering case: 10 jailed, $2.8B surrendered
Ten were jailed 13 to 17 months; 15 of 17 fugitives surrendered assets. Two are still wanted and Megaspeed remains under investigation. ⏳
By MissFortune, money desk · Desk editor Laima Ērkšķe-Kreicberga · · 6 min read
SEIZEDPhoto: Siobhan Howerton · Pexels LicenseWhat we know
- Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs said on Nov 12 that Alice Huang was issued a stern warning and barred from re-entering Singapore, and that investigations into Megaspeed and six other individuals are ongoing, AsiaOne reports.
- The Straits Times reported that the 10 foreigners arrested on Aug 15, 2023 were all jailed for between 13 and 17 months, then deported and barred from re-entering Singapore.
- Police said on Nov 18, 2024 that 15 of the 17 suspects on the run agreed to surrender about $1.85 billion in assets, bringing the total surrendered to almost $2.8 billion, per The Straits Times.
- Police said in June 2024 that more than $940 million had been forfeited from the 10 convicted foreigners.
Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs said on Thursday (Nov 12), in a statement reported by AsiaOne, that Alice Huang was issued a stern warning and barred from re-entering the country. Her passport was returned on Feb 26 this year and she left the same day. The ministry said police and the Attorney-General's Chambers found insufficient evidence to establish whether she committed any offence over the possible inaccurate declarations at Megaspeed, but assessed that she had provided information she knew to be inaccurate. It said she was not investigated for espionage, and that probes into Megaspeed and six other individuals continue. AsiaOne's report carries no comment from Huang.
That is a small, tidy entry-ban. The city-state's larger ledger on money laundering is a different scale. Here is the record of its biggest case, in order, with who ended up holding the money. Amounts are Singapore dollars as The Straits Times reports them.
The timeline
2021-2022: a quiet probe
Second Minister for Home Affairs Josephine Teo told Parliament in October 2023 that authorities were alerted in 2021 by suspected forged documents used to support the source of funds in bank accounts. In early 2022 police launched an intelligence probe and, she said, kept it to a very small group of officers to avoid alerting the suspects.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)Aug 15, 2023: the raids
The Straits Times reported that more than 400 officers hit luxury homes across Singapore and that about $1 billion in assets were seized, frozen or put under prohibition of disposal orders. Ten people were arrested and charged on the Wednesday night with offences including forgery, money laundering and resisting arrest. Police said the group was allegedly laundering proceeds of organised crime overseas linked to scams and online gambling.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)Oct 3, 2023: the number grows to $2.8B
Teo said in a ministerial statement that authorities had taken control of over $2.8 billion in assets, including 152 properties and 62 vehicles worth more than $1.24 billion and more than $1.45 billion in bank accounts. She said the proceeds most likely came from criminal activities abroad, including illegal online gambling and unlicensed moneylending. For comparison, she said police seized more than $1.2 billion in assets from 2020 to 2022, less than half the value in this case.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)Jan 19, 2024: past $3B
Police said the assets seized now exceeded $3 billion, with 207 properties and 77 vehicles. Warrants of arrest and Interpol Red Notices were issued against two more suspects, Su Yongcan and Wang Huoqiang, who the police said had left Singapore before the arrests began. All 10 accused had been denied bail, The Straits Times reported.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)April 2, 2024: first sentence
Su Wenqiang pleaded guilty to two money laundering charges and was sentenced to 13 months in jail, with assets worth over $5.9 million forfeited. Senior District Judge Ong Hian Sun agreed with prosecutors that general deterrence should predominate in what he called the largest money laundering probe in Singapore. The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority told The Straits Times that convicted foreigners are deported and barred from re-entering.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)April 4, 2024: the man who jumped
Su Haijin, the Cypriot national who jumped from a second-floor balcony during the raid, was sentenced to 14 months after admitting one count of resisting arrest and two of money laundering. Prosecutors said he would forfeit more than $165 million, around 90 per cent of his assets.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)May 14, 2024: the biggest forfeiture so far
Vang Shuiming was sentenced to 13 months and six weeks after pleading guilty to two counts of money laundering and one of submitting a forged document to a bank. He agreed to forfeit about $180 million of more than $199 million in assets seized from him and his wife, then the highest amount in the case. District Judge Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz said his offences showed an entrenched effort to legitimise funds and circumvent checks.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)June 10, 2024: the last of the ten
Su Jianfeng was sentenced to 17 months and agreed to forfeit $178.9 million, 95.5 per cent of the $187 million seized from him and his wife. Wang Dehai, sentenced on June 7, received 16 months. Police said more than $940 million had been forfeited from the ten convicted foreigners. Chief prosecutor Tan Kiat Pheng said the swift prosecution of the 10 cases sent a message to would-be criminals.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)The banks: reviews and bankers in court
The Straits Times cited a Bloomberg report showing the ten's deposits sat in 16 banks, with Credit Suisse holding $79.6 million, Citigroup $79.3 million and UOB $41.6 million. A Monetary Authority of Singapore spokesman said the regulator was conducting detailed supervisory reviews and inspections and would act if banks fell short. In August 2024 police charged two former bank relationship managers; one, Wang Qiming, a former Citibank employee, is charged with laundering $481,678 in cash and forging a loan document. The charges are allegations; the report does not give their response. The penalty amounts MAS imposed could not be confirmed in the documents read.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)Nov 18, 2024: fugitives hand over $1.85B
Police said 15 of the 17 suspects on the run agreed to surrender about $1.85 billion, bringing the total surrendered to almost $2.8 billion. Their lawyers agreed in return for withdrawal of the Interpol Red and Blue Notices, and the Attorney-General's Chambers advised that extradition would be difficult. Two suspects, Xu Haika and Xu Hainan, remain wanted, with about $144.9 million still seized or under prohibition orders.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)The sentences and the forfeitures
| Convicted | Sentence | Assets forfeited |
|---|---|---|
| Su Wenqiang | 13 months | Over $5.9M |
| Su Haijin | 14 months | Over $165M |
| Vang Shuiming | 13 months, six weeks | About $180M |
| Su Jianfeng | 17 months | $178.9M |
The Straits Times reported that all ten received between 13 and 17 months and were deported and barred from re-entering Singapore. In the ministry's Nov 12 statement it pointed to four individuals and four companies charged in court between February last year and July 2026 in related matters, and said it would cooperate with foreign authorities where appropriate.
The Ledger
On the record
- Ten foreigners were jailed for 13 to 17 months, and almost $2.8 billion in assets had been surrendered by Nov 2024, per The Straits Times and police statements.
- On Nov 12 the Ministry of Home Affairs said Alice Huang was warned and barred from re-entry and that Megaspeed and six other individuals remain under investigation.
Still rumour
- The amounts of any penalties MAS imposed on banks are not confirmed in the documents read; the MAS release page was unavailable.
- No comment from Alice Huang or Megaspeed appears in the report read, and the outcome for the two fugitives still wanted is not confirmed.
That's the record. The rest is rumour. - MissFortune
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