Second man jailed in billion-dollar laundering case

Plethora of items: Some of the assets belonging to Haijin that were seized by the police in the case. — The Straits Times/ANN

CYPRIOT national Su Haijin (pic), who jumped from the second-floor balcony of a good class bungalow (GCB) during a police raid, has been convicted of resisting arrest and money laundering.

The 41-year-old, who faced a total of 14 charges, was sentenced to 14 months’ jail yesterday.

Haijin is the second of 10 foreigners linked to Singapore’s largest money laundering case to be convicted and sentenced.

He admitted to one charge of resisting arrest and two money laundering charges. Another 11 charges were taken into consideration for his sentencing.

More than US$3bil (RM14.25bil) in cash and assets have been seized in relation to the case so far.

The prosecution, who sought 12 to 15 months’ jail for Haijin, said he intends to forfeit 90% of his assets to the state. Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Jean Ting said his assets seized are worth over US$171mil (RM812.43mil).

Seeking not more than 11 months’ jail for Haijin, defence lawyer Julian Tay said his client’s seized assets include 13 properties worth around US$91mil (RM432.35mil) and all the money in his bank accounts, amounting to around US$45mil (RM213.8mil).

He added that in total, more than US$165mil (RM784mil) worth of assets have been voluntarily surrendered, including gold bars, Bearbricks – which are collectible toy figurines – liquor and jewellery.

“He has given up more than what the charges are referring to, and due credit should be given,” said Tay.

Haijin, who is originally from China, appeared in court via video link at around 2.45pm.

He was expressionless as the statement of facts was read out to him. He has been in remand for about eight months since his arrest on Aug 15, 2023.

Haijin was arrested in a 32,000 sq ft GCB in Ewart Park in Bukit Timah, which he was renting, when islandwide raids led by the Commercial Affairs Department were conducted on luxury homes across Singapore.

Yesterday, DPP Ng said on Aug 15, 2023, at around 6.40am, a team of police officers arrived at Su’s home in Ewart Park.

The DPP said Su had jumped from the bedroom balcony onto the ground floor.

On Tuesday, Cambodian national Su Wenqiang, 32, another of the 10 accused, was sentenced to 13 months in jail after he pleaded guilty to two counts of money laundering.

He admitted to having more than US$600,000 (RM2.85mil) in cash – benefits from unlawful remote gambling offences – and using US$500,000 (RM2.37mil) in criminal benefits to buy a Mercedes-Benz car. — The Straits Times/ANN