S$1.85B worth of assets surrendered by 15 money-laundering suspects who left S’pore: Police

S$1.85B worth of assets surrendered by 15 out of 17 foreign nationals involved in money-laundering case

Though they’re not in Singapore, 15 foreign nationals suspected of involvement in money laundering in Singapore have surrendered S$1.85 billion worth of assets.

They are part of the billion-dollar money-laundering probe that led to the arrest of 10 foreign nationals last year, said the Singapore Police Force (SPF) in a news release on Monday (18 Nov).

Police seized assets of money-laundering suspects who fled S’pore

Since the large-scale raids in August 2023, it was found that 17 suspects who were foreign nationals had left Singapore.

They have not returned to the Republic, SPF said.

Nonetheless, the police have seized and issued prohibition-of-disposal orders on assets linked to these individuals.

15 suspects agree to surrender S$1.85B of assets in money-laundering probe

So far, 15 of the foreign nationals’ cases have been dealt with, SPF said.

These individuals have agreed to surrender about S$1.85 billion worth of assets to the State.

This represents 98.6% of the seized and prohibited assets, SPF added.

Court orders have already been made for the surrender.

The 15 suspects have also been barred from returning to Singapore.

S$144.9M worth of assets linked to 2 more foreign nationals

As for the two remaining foreign nationals, investigations into both of them are ongoing.

A total of S$144.9 million worth of assets are linked to them, SPF said.

These assets remain seized or are the subject of prohibition of disposal orders.

Other individuals, who allegedly facilitated the money-laundering activities, are now facing investigations and court proceedings.

All 10 foreign nationals arrested last year convicted & jailed

The 10 foreign nationals who were arrested during the raids last year have all been convicted, SPF said.

The first to be convicted was 32-year-old Cambodian national Su Wenqiang, who was sentenced to 13 months’ jail in April.

Since then, the other nine were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 13 to 17 months.

About S$944 million worth of assets were surrendered to the State.

This represents 92.1% of the total assets seized from them or otherwise linked to them.

After serving their sentences, the 10 foreign nationals were deported and barred from returning to Singapore.

Also read: Shanmugam Explains How S$1.8B Money Laundering Probe Started, Says Banks Reported Suspicious Transactions

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Featured image adapted from Singapore Police Force on Facebook.