S$3B money laundering accused Su Baolin sentenced to 14 months in jail

SINGAPORE: Su Baolin (苏宝林), one of the ten accused in Singapore’s S$3 billion money laundering case, received a 14-month jail sentence on Monday (29 April).

Originally from Fujian, China, Su, a 42-year-old Cambodian national, admitted guilt to three out of the 13 charges brought against him.

One of the charges relates to a conspiracy between Su and Wang Junjie to deceive the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) regarding the accurate financial information of Xinbao Investment Holdings (厦门新宝投资控股) for the fiscal year 2021, during which Su served as the company's director.

Another charge involves Su being found in possession of S$777,220.50 in cash, and suspected proceeds from criminal activities, at 34A Nassim Road.

Authorities seized the funds from two safes in Su's residence. Su failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for the source of these funds.

Additionally, Su admitted to owning a white Toyota Alphard Hybrid 2.5SR C-Package CVT, purchased for S$332,281.26, also suspected to be derived from criminal activities.

Su claimed he purchased it using funds obtained from participating in a WhatsApp group associated with online gambling websites.

Allegedly, this group transferred cryptocurrency to Su's digital wallet. However, authorities found this explanation inadequate.

The prosecution argued that the circumstances strongly suggested the car was acquired through criminal activities related to Su's unlawful remote gambling offences.

The court will consider the remaining charges during his sentencing.

Su Baolin, along with nine others was apprehended during a widespread police operation targeting money laundering offences in August 2023.

Within this month, three individuals—Wang Baosen, Su Haijin, and Su Wenqiang—have pleaded guilty and received jail sentences ranging from 13 to 14 months.

Su Baolin is the fourth individual to face legal consequences in this case.

Assets worth approximately S$100 million, including cash, vehicles, properties, luxury items, and alcohol, were confiscated from Su.

After accounting for his debts, the seized assets amounted to approximately S$72 million.

These assets were suspected to be proceeds from illicit remote gambling activities conducted overseas.

Su became the director of Sg-Gree on 1 June 2021, the same day his brother Su Haijin was appointed a shareholder of the company.

Su's other charge relates to a separate money laundering offence, alleging that in December 2020, he utilized S$657,980 in criminal proceeds to purchase three properties at Scotts Square on Scotts Road in his wife’s name, through three checks each exceeding S$1.8 million.

During this period, Su allegedly assisted a former Citibank employee, Wang Qiming, in forging a borrowing agreement to deceive Standard Chartered Bank and submitted a forged income declaration certificate from ZhengJiang Chengnabaili Import & Export to Citibank as supporting documentation.

In November 2017, Su purportedly made false statements in a statutory declaration, claiming to be a director of a company called Great Trillion Technology in Hong Kong, and stating that he had received dividends and director’s salary and fees totalling about S$5.1 million since 2016.

If convicted of money laundering, Su could face fines of up to S$150,000 and imprisonment for up to three years for each offence.

Lying to the Ministry of Manpower could result in fines of up to S$20,000 and imprisonment for up to two years.

Separately, Vang Shuiming (王水明) and Zhang Ruijin (张瑞金), who are also implicated in the S$3 billion money laundering case, are scheduled to enter their guilty pleas on 15 May and 30 April, respectively.