In August, Singapore cracked the largest money laundering case in the country's history, which attracted great attention. The latest news has made new developments in the amount and number of people involved in the case. Details of the case are as follows:
On August 15, Singapore dispatched more than 400 investigators from the Commercial Affairs Bureau, Criminal Investigation Bureau, the Police Force’s Special Operations Command and the Police Intelligence Bureau to carry out investigation operations in many places across the country, and conducted investigations in Bukit Timah, Ten people were arrested in ultra-luxury villas and apartment areas such as Orchard Road, namely Su Haijin, Su Baolin, Su Jianfeng, Zhang Ruijin, Lin Baoying, Wang Shuiming, Chen Qingyuan, Su Wenqiang, and Wang Dehai. Three of them are Chinese citizens and hold Chinese passports. The other persons involved are all non-Singaporean nationals and hold multiple nationalities or permanent residence qualifications (it is reported that the 10 people are all originally from the Fujian region of my country, and some of them are already on the list of fugitives involved in the case in my country) .
At the same time, the police issued prohibition orders on 94 properties, 50 cars and a batch of fine wines worth approximately S$815 million, and seized 35 related bank accounts with more than S$110 million in deposits and S$23 million in cash. As well as 250 luxury bags and watches, more than 270 pieces of jewelry and other luxury goods, and 11 virtual asset information files.
As the investigation deepens, the amount and number of people involved continue to increase. As of October 3, 2023: the number of properties has increased to 152, the number of vehicles has increased to 62, and the funds that have been seized in bank accounts exceed 1.45 billion Singapore dollars, exceeding 76 million Singapore dollars in cash, more than 38 million Singapore dollars worth of cryptocurrency, 68 gold bars, 294 designer bags, 164 luxury watches and 546 pieces of jewelry, totaling approximately 2.8 billion Singapore dollars (nearly 15 billion yuan). The number of people identified as involved has also increased to 34.
The amount and persons involved do not rule out increasing in the future...
Where did the 15 billion black money come from?
With such a large amount of funds involved, people can't help but wonder, where did the money come from?
However, when the past experiences of the people involved were discovered, it was discovered that things were not that simple.
Online gambling and online fraud leader
Among these 10 people, Wang Shuiming and Su Haijin have particularly complicated past experiences.
Wang Shuiming is well-known in the online gambling industry. Since 2012, he has been going to the Philippines to engage in gambling and other online gambling activities. It is reported that at its peak, there were about 7-10 online gambling groups relying on him, with a total number of employees exceeding 10,000. About two years ago, one group could earn 5 billion yuan per month from registered gamblers, and each one The group will give Wang Shuiming a fixed share. Su Haijin is the leader of a telecommunications network fraud.
5 out of 10 people are wanted by the Chinese police
①In 2015, Su Wenqiang, Wang Dehai, and Su Jianfeng were wanted by the Public Security Bureau of Guiyang County, Hubei Province for an online gambling case;
②Chen Qingyuan is among the 115 suspects wanted for fraud by the Anxi police in Fujian;
③Wang Shuiming was one of the criminal gangs that operated gambling stations, applications, and online gambling activities that were destroyed by the Zibo police in Shandong Province on August 15.
Through relevant investigations, it was found that these people are involved in telecommunications network fraud, selling contraband and other fields. It is not difficult to know where these "black money" come from.
By what means is money laundered?
With the amount involved in the case of nearly 15 billion yuan, a single method of money laundering is definitely not enough. We can also get a glimpse of it from relevant news reports:
① Money laundering through virtual currency
Cryptocurrencies worth more than S$38 million have been seized in this case. Although the specific amount of money laundered by the suspects involved in the case through virtual currencies is unknown, it also shows that virtual currencies have become one of the important new means of money laundering.
② Launder money through the purchase of real estate, luxury cars, art, luxury goods, etc.
Real estate, luxury cars, luxury goods, etc. are also the main channels for money laundering. These assets have strong ability to maintain value, have large room for appreciation, and are relatively easy to move. There were 152 properties seized in this case, 62 luxury cars and other vehicles, 294 designer bags, 164 luxury watches and 546 pieces of jewelry.
③Money laundering through foreign banks
These people will put the "black money" in overseas banks with relatively loose controls, then transfer it to bank accounts in more than a dozen countries through electronic transfers, and finally remit the money to Singapore. Once the money enters a bank in Singapore, it is basically considered clean.
④Money laundering through cross-border trade
By using forged documents and false sales contracts to confirm the source of funds to banks and complete false cross-border transactions, the purpose of laundering funds is achieved.
⑤ Money laundering through exchange and settlement of foreign exchange
Foreign workers’ Singapore dollars are collected in Singapore through high exchange rates, and the workers’ relatives in their hometowns directly receive remittances from local agents to launder the funds.
⑥Laundering money by opening a company
Capital injection and capital increase can both be used as methods of money laundering. At least 20 of the people involved in the case had names in hundreds to thousands of companies. For example, one person involved in the case worked as a secretary in more than 2,300 companies in seven years.