S$3 billion money laundering case: Su Jianfeng sentenced to 17 months in prison, last of 10 to be sent to prison

SINGAPORE: Su Jianfeng, a Dubai real estate broker, has been sentenced to 17 months in prison, making him the last of 10 foreigners arrested in an anti-money laundering operation in August 2023 to be sent to prison.

The 36-year-old Vanuatu national, originally from China, pleaded guilty on June 6 to money laundering and forgery.

Twelve other charges were taken into consideration. They range from counterfeiting and money laundering to labor offenses for hiring a personal chef without a valid employment card.

On June 10, District Judge James Elisha Lee said Su had shown great disregard for the law in Singapore, with the charges demonstrating that he had committed these acts persistently over a significant period of time.

As part of his sentence, Su agreed to forfeit S$178.9 million of his assets to the state. His confiscated assets represent 95.5 percent of the $187 million fortune seized from him and his wife Chen Qiuyan.

Court documents showed that just after the couple moved to Singapore in August 2020, they amassed an asset portfolio including 12 properties worth $63.9 million and seven vehicles worth $5. 2 million dollars.

To explain his wealth, Su duped two Singapore banks into submitting a number of property sales contracts knowing they were fake.

Two of the contracts, which he submitted to Maybank Singapore, were for the sale of DC The Grand property number 5101 and property number 3009 to one Li Bao.

A third contract, which was also awarded to Maybank, was for the sale of Residences_E2 property number 2302 to one Lin Zhenghu.

Su claimed that deposits of $1,029,970 and $969,970 made by a company named Tuo Xin You were the proceeds from the sale of the property.

A fourth contract was for property number 3101 Address Boulevard, said to have been sold to one Wong Hiuluen, which Su submitted to OCBC Bank.

A fifth contract involved the sale of property number 408 of Emaar Square Bldg 2 to one Zhou Weihong, which was also handed over to OCBC.

Su claimed a $2,999,980 deposit made by Wecord Rich Trading Company came from the sale of the property.

He had also submitted two loan agreements to OCBC that he knew were false.

In court, Su claimed he made money as a real estate agent in Dubai.

However, a data leak reported by The Straits Times and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, an investigative journalism group, showed that he was a real estate broker who worked with a Singapore-based businessman to sell properties in Dubai to foreigners in Singapore.

Investors include wanted individuals in China, three others convicted in a $3 billion money laundering probe, associates of the convicts and a Chinese-born businessman who left Singapore abruptly during the investigation.

In total, they purchased at least 126 properties worth more than Dh537 million (S$197 million).

The bulk of the properties were luxury units marketed by Fidu Properties, including The Grand at Dubai Creek and Grande Downtown Dubai.

Su himself had purchased 30 properties in Dubai, according to the leak, although ST was only able to independently verify 12 properties worth a total of more than $21 million.

They include apartments at the Burj Khalifa, once the tallest building in the world, and a villa in District One Villas Phase Two, minutes from the Crystal Lagoon.

After his arrest by the Department of Corporate Affairs, police discovered that he owned 12 properties in Singapore, seven luxury vehicles, tens of millions in cash and bank accounts and $26 million in cryptocurrency.

Su told police investigators he also owned 11 “condominium rooms”, two offices and a villa worth a total of 30 million dirhams in Dubai.

In total, more than $940 million in assets were confiscated from the 10 foreigners convicted in the case.

On June 5, authorities said that most of the $3 billion in cash and assets involved in the money laundering case belonged to 17 other people still at large.

Prosecutors had sought a prison sentence of between 17 and 18 months for Su, who they said laundered some $17.5 million in Singapore.

They said Su chose to plead guilty only because it would allow him to spend less time behind bars after learning of the sentences given to the other nine people involved in the case.

Among the ten convicted, Su Wenqiang, Su Haijin, Su Baolin, Wang Baosen, Vang Shuiming, Zhang Ruijin, Chen Qingyuan and Lin Baoying were imprisoned for between 13 and 15 months each.

Wang Dehai was sentenced to 16 months.

Four of them – Su Wenqiang, Wang Baosen, Su Baolin and Su Haijin – were deported to Cambodia between May 6 and 28. Vang Shuiming was deported to Japan on June 1. -The Straits Times/ANN