SINGAPORE, April 25 — Three more charges were read yesterday to a suspect in a S$2.8 billion (RM9.8 billion) money laundering case and he is set to plead guilty next Monday.
Su Baolin, 42, was the latest among the 10 suspects to do so, after the convictions of three others who pleaded guilty earlier this month.
The remaining suspects are in remand, with one Zhang Ruijin also set to plead guilty to three charges of forgery next Tuesday.
The fresh charges relate to Su’s alleged possession of S$777,220.50 in cash — suspected to be gleaned in part from criminal conduct — which was stored in a location at 34A Nassim Road that is within a private residential estate.
Charge sheets also stated that Su is alleged to have been a part of unlawful remote gambling operations, and possessing a white Toyota Alphard Hybrid 2.5SR C-Package CVT, a seven-seater vehicle he allegedly bought for S$332,281.26 using suspected benefits from criminal conduct.
The third charge was of him allegedly making a false statement to the Controller of Work Passes in October 2022 stating that his spouse Ma Ning would be employed as a sales and marketing director at SG-Gree.
Su was a director at SG-Gree, where its business profile was listed with the authorities as wholesaler of household appliances and equipment. The company had no intention to actually hire his wife in that role.
The penalty is three years’ jail or a fine of up to S$150,000 or both punishments for each charge of possessing property suspected of being in whole or in part representing benefits from criminal conduct.
For making a false statement to the Controller of Work Passes, Su could be jailed for up to two years or fined up to S$20,000, or both.
With the latest development, Su who is listed as a Cambodian in court documents now faces 13 charges.
His other charges relate to allegedly submitting forged documents to Standard Chartered Bank and Citibank.
In January, the court heard eight charges against him, including his alleged refusal to sign various statements that he made to the authorities when required to do so by a Commercial Affairs Department officer on three occasions. This was said to have happened in an interview room at the Changi Prison Complex Medical Centre.
Su was also charged with using alleged criminal proceeds of S$657,980 to fund three cheques issued for the purchase of three properties located within the Orchard Road shopping belt in the name of his spouse.
Each of the three cheques were in excess of S$1.8 million and the money he provided was allegedly derived from a conspiracy he engaged someone named Wang Qiming to forge a document to cheat Standard Chartered Bank.
Two of his other charges were of abetting with someone named Wang Junjie by engaging in a conspiracy to make false representations to Singapore’s tax authority regarding the true and accurate values of the revenue, gross profits and trade receivables of Xinbao Investment Holdings for the financial years of 2020 and 2021.
Su has remained in remand for more than eight months’ since his arrest last August. His lawyers, Sunil Sudheesan, Diana Ngiam and Joyce Khoo from Quahe Woo & Palmer, spoke of Su’s health condition and were twice denied in their application for bail.
Wang Baosen, Su Haijin and Su Wenqiang who were three of the 10 suspects in the case have been sentenced to jail for money laundering-related charges earlier this month. — TODAY
