Singapore (Commonwealth) _ One of the ten people charged in Singapore’s largest money-laundering investigation may face extra forgery charges for allegedly submitting false paperwork to banks to conceal the source of funds in his accounts.
This was revealed in an affidavit submitted to the court on Wednesday (Oct 18) in support of the prosecution’s objection to bail for Su Jianfeng. Su, 35, is currently facing four accusations of illegally possessing earnings from unlawful remote gambling offenses, including S$17 million in three safe deposit boxes and S$550,903 in cash.
On August 15, he was caught in a Good Class Bungalow on Third Avenue near Bukit Timah. According to previous court sessions, his wife is also a witness in the investigations. Property confiscated or frozen in Su or his wife’s name includes: S$18.4 million in cash, S$66.1 million in bank accounts, S$26.5 million in cryptocurrency, 13 properties for S$115.3 million, and four vehicles totaling S$4.7 million.
On Wednesday, he was denied bail by District Judge Terence Tay, who stated that he had not provided a satisfactory explanation for how he obtained the money, that the investigations are still ongoing, and that there are still accomplices at large. Su has denied providing false documents to banks in order to conceal the source of his income.
However, Mr Lye Jia He of the Singapore Police Force’s Commercial Affairs Department stated in response to Su’s affidavit that there is evidence that Su knowingly did so based on his investigations. These fake documents include falsified sales contracts, loan agreements, and annual reports to banks as proof of the source of funds received in his and his wife’s Singapore bank accounts.
After the investigations are completed, the accused may face additional forgery accusations, according to IO Lye. Su said in his affidavit that the sources of his riches utilized to support local and abroad properties are revenue obtained as a property agent in a real estate brokerage and revenue from bitcoin trading.
I do not believe this is correct, said IO Lye, noting that investigations have revealed that Su’s principal source of wealth is his proceeds from illegal remote gambling offenses. He hasn’t been able to explain any other source of money, he says.
According to IO Lye, the police have been unable to confirm the legitimacy of property transactions that appear to have taken place in Dubai, and Su has also failed to give any “credible evidence” of his work with the real estate agency.
Su’s claim concerning his supposed cryptocurrency trading is also “completely uncorroborated,” according to him, because Su has not produced any documentary proof of his alleged trade or the revenue made from it.
IO Lye also addressed the accused’s claim that he is not a flight risk in his affidavit. Su mentioned that he is the CEO of a local company, An Xing Technology, as one of the reasons. However, investigations conducted by IO Lye reveal that this is a shell corporation.
“Despite his position as CEO, the accused was ‘unclear’ about the company’s business operations,” he added. He said he couldn’t tell you how many people worked for the company, couldn’t identify its employees, customers, or suppliers, and couldn’t even tell you where it was located.
He was also unable to give any documentation proving his occupation or work. As a result, it is clear that the accused has little to no involvement in the corporation, if the company even exists.
IO Lye further stated that as of August 15, the company had only one corporate bank account – with CIMB. It only had three deposits of S$20,000, S$999,965, and S$999,965, all made in 2022. In 2023, no deposits were made.
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