SU BAOLIN, one of the 10 foreign nationals involved with the more-than-S$3 billion money laundering case, was on Monday (Apr 29) sentenced to 14 months’ jail.

Su faced 13 charges related to forgery, fraud and money laundering. The prosecution proceeded on three, with the rest taken into consideration during sentencing by District Judge Ow Yong Tuck Leong.

He noted that general deterrence should be the key sentencing factor to send a “strong signal” to those attempting to launder money.

The sentence will be backdated to Aug 15, 2023, when Su was arrested.

Su will also be forfeiting about S$65 million, or 90 per cent of his seized assets, which came in at around S$72 million after accounting for liabilities in respect of the assets. They consist of cash, properties, jewellery, luxury items and alcohol from Su, his wife and his companies.

Among the three charges, Su was found to have S$777,220.50 in cash stored in two safes at 34A Nassim Road, which represented his benefits from criminal conduct.

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In a statement of facts read in court, Deputy Public Prosecutor Eric Hu said Su was part of an unlawful remote gambling operation.

He operated online gambling websites from 2019 to 2023, and earned around four million in the cryptocurrency Tether, also known as USDT, which is valued between S$5 million to S$6 million.

He also punted on online gambling websites between 2020 and 2023, and was part of a WhatsApp group chat called “Mark Six Group” that provided links to gambling websites.

Su initially said the seized cash were derived from his sale of Tether through a local cryptocurrency exchange that he could not identify.

He later changed his story and told the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) that he went to Genting in Malaysia with his family and friends sometime between December 2022 and January 2023 and was approached by a junket operator, who lent him RM500,000 (S$142,290) to gamble in the Genting casinos.

He claimed he accumulated winnings of around RM3 million and collected it in USDT, which he later liquidated into cash across two or three transactions.

“Not only are the above two differing accounts given by (Su) inconsistent, but the circumstances also show that he was unable to provide a satisfactory explanation for how he came by the seized cash,” said Hu.

Chat logs showed that Su instructed an unnamed individuals to transfer USDT 706,222 to his cryptocurrency wallet, which was later withdrawn in a single transaction, contrary to what he told CAD.

He also instructed another unnamed person to transfer USDT 240,000 and USDT 260,000 from this wallet into another, which allowed the unnamed person to liquidate the USDT 500,000 into S$663,243 for Su. Of this sum, S$463,243 in cash was delivered to Su in a black duffle bag on Aug 3, 2023.

As Su had previously received USDT 100,000 from the “Mark Six Group” in this wallet, there was “a reasonable suspicion” that at least part of the seized cash may be traced to Su’s criminal proceeds in unlawful online gambling, said Hu.

He was also found guilty of possessing a white Toyota Alphard Hybrid 2.5SR C-Package CVT car, which he purchased for S$332,281.26 using criminal proceeds.

Su claimed that he purchased the car using the proceeds he obtained from punting with the “Mark Six Group”, said Hu.

However, investigations showed that he had several cryptocurrency wallets and had likely used an amount from the USDT 4 million he earned from supervising online gambling websites to pay for the car.

Attempt to cheat IRAS

The third charge noted that he had abetted Wang Junjie to fraudulently make false representations to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) on the true value of Xinbao Investment Holdings’ revenue, gross profits and trade receivables for the financial years of 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Su and Wang were both directors at Xinbao, where Wang was also secretary.

Wang was a qualified individual at registered filing agent LW Business Consultancy. His registration as a qualified individual was cancelled on Jan 18, as part of the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority’s investigations into the money laundering probe.

DPP Hu said Xinbao’s financials were grossly over-inflated in order to give the false impression that Xinbao was a profitable company, and that Su and Wang had made it so that Xinbao would “appear progressively profitable”.

In reality, the company had no business operations in 2020, and although it made investments into legitimate companies from 2021 onwards, its financials were inflated and fictitious.

This was done as Su was concerned that his employment pass would not be renewed by the Manpower Ministry (MOM) if the company did not appear to be profitable, which would also affect the dependent passes of his four children and parents.

He also aimed to increase his chances of obtaining a permanent residency status in Singapore when he applied in August 2022. He and his family’s applications were eventually not approved.

The prosecution asked for a 14 to 16-month jail sentence for the three charges. Hu noted that Su had perpetuated his fraud offence for three years, while acknowledging that Su had agreed to forfeit most of his assets.

In mitigation, Su’s lawyer Sunil Sudheesan of Quahe Woo & Palmer asked for a lower sentence of 12 months and three weeks. He highlighted that Su had health issues including a congenital heart disease, as well as a growth in the large intestine, which carries a risk of cancer.

He had gone through a biopsy for the latter in April, but the results are still pending.

Sudheesan said that since Su’s arrest, his waiting period in remand had been “torturous”, adding that he had not been able to seek an earlier scan for the growth. A shorter sentence would then allow him to seek further treatment as soon as possible.

Hu replied that the prisons medical officer had stated in an affidavit that prison was able to give Su the adequate amount of care needed.

While ill health can be a mitigating factor, the defence’s submissions did not show how Su’s condition prevents him from serving a given sentence.

Submitted forged documents to cheat banks

Su’s other charges taken into consideration were related to money laundering, forgery, and an attempt to cheat MOM.

Su used S$657,980 – his benefits of criminal conduct – to fund the purchase of three properties at Scotts Square, in Scotts Road, in his wife’s name.

The money he provided was derived from a conspiracy he engaged in with Wang Qiming, a former Citibank employee, to forge a document with the intent to cheat Standard Chartered Bank.

He had also forged an income declaration certificate from ZhengJiang Chengnabaili Import & Export, showing that he was the executive director of the company, and submitted it to Citibank as supporting documentation.

Su also made a false statement to the Controller of Work Passes under MOM, in his capacity as a director of a company known as SG-Gree, in order to obtain an employment pass for his wife Ma Ning.

He stated that Ma would be employed as a sales and marketing director by the company, when the company had no intention of employing her.

The Cambodian passport holder had also used a false declaration in the purchase of a unit at the Gramercy Park condominium in Grange Road, off Orchard Boulevard.

He made false statements indicating that he was a director of Great Trillion Technology in Hong Kong and China Run Feng (Holdings) Investment in China, receiving dividends, director’s fees and salary from these companies. These were declared as the source of his funds for purchasing the condominium unit.

Su was arrested along with nine other foreign nationals in an islandwide anti-money laundering blitz.

Of the other nine individuals, three have been sentenced to 13 to 14 months’ jail. Another two are expected to plead guilty, with one – Zhang Ruijin – scheduled for Tuesday. The remaining four are still in remand.