Su Wenqiang set to be first accused in S$3b money laundering case to plead guilty on Apr 2

A date has been set for one of the 10 accused in Singapore’s largest money laundering case to plead guilty.

Su Wenqiang, 32, a Cambodian national, is scheduled for a plead guilty mention on April 2.

According to court records, he is expected to appear via video link.

On March 7, after a pre-trial conference, his lawyer Sameer Amir Melber confirmed with The Straits Times the plead guilty date on April 2.

He declined to provide more details.

Su Wenqiang faces a total of 11 charges.

A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU

Friday, 8.30 am

Asean Business

Business insights centering on South-east Asia's fast-growing economies.

Sign Up

He was arrested during the initial raid on Aug 15, 2023, at a good class bungalow in Lewis Road, and was found with passports from Cambodia, Vanuatu and China.

He was charged the next day with two counts of money laundering relating to a property and a Mercedes allegedly paid for using monies from illegal remote gambling services in the Philippines that targeted people in China.

On Jan 29, he was handed another seven charges, including six for using his benefits from crime to buy items such as bags, jewellery and alcohol, and to pay rent for a landed property and condominium.

The seventh charge was for allegedly having a forged China marriage certificate showing he married his wife in May 2018.

Two days later on Jan 31, he was given another two charges for making false statements in applications for work and employment passes, including for engaging with someone to obtain a work pass for his wife.

Su Wenqiang has been held in remand for almost seven months since his arrest.

He is married to Su Yanping, who is a person of interest in the case, and they have two young children. The family moved from China to Singapore in 2021.

He is linked to a gambling gang with two other accused persons, Wang Dehai and Su Jianfeng, and also to two other persons of interest, Su Yongcan and Wang Huoqiang.

The assets seized in Singapore’s largest money laundering case that saw 10 foreigners arrested are now worth more than S$3 billion.

The police said on Jan 19 that they have issued prohibition of disposal orders on another 55 properties and 15 vehicles. An additional 189 luxury bags, 34 pieces of jewellery and five luxury watches were also seized.

This now brings the assets confiscated by the authorities to 207 properties, 77 vehicles, more than S$1.45 billion in bank accounts, and more than $76 million in cash of various currencies. THE STRAITS TIMES