The police have taken control of more than S$1.8 billion in assets as they continue to investigate one of the largest money laundering cases in Singapore, prosecutors told the High Court on Tuesday (Sep 5).

The update in the value of assets that have been seized, frozen, or issued with prohibition of disposal orders, came in a hearing where one of the 10 people who have been charged in the case argued for bail to be granted.

The order blocks the sale of assets which are the subject of a police investigation.

Turkish national Vang Shuiming, 42, currently faces five charges, one for using a forged document and four for money laundering.

Vang, who is also known as Wang Shuiming, is alleged to have submitted a forged bank statement to Citibank Singapore in March 2021 as supporting documentation.

The four money laundering charges relate to about S$2.4 million held in four UOB and RHB bank accounts. The sums are said to be criminal benefits from an unlicensed moneylending business in China, based on charges filed against him.

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Vang, who also has passports from China and Vanuatu, was arrested in a good class bungalow in Bishopsgate, which is in the Tanglin area, on Aug 15.

He was among the nine men and one woman, aged between 31 and 44, who were nabbed following an islandwide raid by more than 400 officers. At the time, the value of assets involved stood at S$1 billion.

All 10 individuals have been remanded since they were charged in court on Aug 16.

On Tuesday, after hearing arguments, Justice Vincent Hoong dismissed Vang’s bid to be released on bail. The judge said there was nothing palpably wrong with the district judge’s order for Vang to be further remanded in custody.

Assets worth around S$200 million have been seized from Vang, who is the director and shareholder of Zhuo Chi Technology, a firm in Singapore that purportedly deals in software development.

A search of business records showed that he was also the shareholder of Ming Xin (Singapore) Technologly, which was struck off in 2021.

Vang was granted Cambodian citizenship on in March 2019 and is the chairman of Cambodian company Daming IT Services.

According to a notice put up by the Chinese authorities in 2023, he is wanted in China to assist in investigations into the Heng Bo Bao Wang gambling syndicate that was uncovered in 2022. THE STRAITS TIMES