Woman Sentenced For Forgery And Money Laundering Offences In Anti-Money Laundering Probe

On 30 May 2024, Lin Baoying (“Lin”), a 44-year-old female Chinese national, was convicted and sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment for two counts of fraudulently using a forged document, an offence under Section 471 read with Section 465 of the Penal Code (“the Penal Code”) and one count of money laundering under Section 47AA(1) punishable under Section 47AA(2) of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act (“CDSA”). An additional seven charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.

Lin was one of the 10 foreign nationals arrested on 15 August 2023, during a large scale, island-wide raid conducted by the Police in relation to its investigations into a group of foreign nationals suspected of laundering the proceeds of their overseas organised crime activities in Singapore. During her arrest, Lin was found in possession of cash and other assets which were suspected to be proceeds from her criminal conduct.

The Police subsequently seized and prohibited disposal of about S$170.5 million worth of assets in relation to Lin and her companies. The State Court has ordered the forfeiture of about S$154 million (about 90 per cent) of the assets to the State.

Background of the case

Investigations revealed that between April 2020 and October 2020, Lin submitted forged documents to various financial institutions in Singapore, in response to their queries on the source of funds transferred into her bank accounts. This included submitting two forged agreements to CIMB Bank Bhd and UOB Kay Hian Pte Ltd (“UOBKH”), to substantiate that Lin’s source of funds were derived from the sale of two Macau properties purportedly owned by her, even though she never owned such properties.

Investigations also revealed that between 2015 and 2019, Lin was suspected to have run an unlicensed and unlawful gambling operation overseas, and had transferred the proceeds into Singapore. Lin was unable to provide a satisfactory explanation as to how she came to possess the HKD 7,500,000 deposited into her UOBKH account, which she had originally falsely represented to UOBKH as being proceeds from the sale of a Macau property purportedly owned by her. Although she claimed that this sum of money was derived from legitimate sources of income such as her businesses, she was unable to substantiate this claim with any documentary evidence.

Lin was charged with the following offences:

Four counts of fraudulently using as genuine a document which she knew to be a forged document under Section 471 read with Section 465 of the Penal Code;
One count of abetment of forgery for the purpose of cheating under Section 468 read with Section 109 of the Penal Code;
Four counts of money laundering offences under Section 47AA(1) punishable under Section 47AA(2) of the CDSA; and
One count of intentionally perverting the course of justice under Section 204A of the Penal Code.

Any person convicted of an offence under Section 471 read with Section 465 of the Penal Code may be punished with imprisonment for a term of up to 4 years, or with fine, or with both. Any person convicted of an offence under Section 468 of the Penal Code may be punished with imprisonment for a term of up to 10 years and a fine. Any person convicted of an offence under Section 47AA(1) punishable under Section 47AA(2) of the CDSA may be punished with a fine of up to S$150,000 or with imprisonment for a term of up to 3 years, or with both. Any person convicted of an offence under Section 204A of the Penal Code may be punished with imprisonment for a term of up to 7 years, or with fine, or with both.

The Police take a serious stance against any person who may be involved in money laundering and the deception of our financial institutions using forged documents. These criminal acts compromise the integrity of Singapore’s financial system. To ensure that Singapore remains a safe and trusted place for business and finance, the Police will take tough enforcement action against such perpetrators, who will be dealt with in accordance with the law.

Related cases

Seven of the accused persons arrested during the same raid, Su Wenqiang, a 32-year-old Cambodian national; Su Haijin, a 41-year-old Cypriot national; Wang Baosen, a 32-year-old Chinese national; Su Baolin, a 42-year-old Cambodian national; Zhang Ruijin, a 45-year-old Chinese national; Vang Shuiming, a 43-year-old Turkish national, and Chen Qingyuan, a 34-year-old Cambodian national, have been convicted and sentenced for money laundering offences. Annex A sets out the sentencing outcomes of the eight accused persons who have been convicted and sentenced in relation to this case.

Court proceedings for the two remaining accused persons, Su Jianfeng and Wang Dehai, are ongoing. Annex B sets out the offences which they have currently been charged with. Their assets, along with those of other persons linked to the case, will remain seized and prohibited until the State Courts have dealt with their cases.

Annex A – Sentencing outcomes of eight accused persons\

SN	Name	Sentencing outcomes
1	Su Wenqiang	Convicted and sentenced to 13 months’ imprisonment for two counts of money laundering under Section 54(1) of the CDSA. 100 per cent forfeiture of seized assets (amounting to around S$6 million) to the State.
2	Su Haijin	Convicted and sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment for one count of resistance to lawful apprehension under Section 225B of the Penal Code and two counts of money laundering under Section 55 of the CDSA. About 95 per cent forfeiture of seized/prohibited assets (amounting to more than S$165 million) to the State.
3	Wang Baosen	Convicted and sentenced to 13 months’ imprisonment for two counts of money laundering under Section 55 of the CDSA. 100 per cent forfeiture of seized/prohibited assets (amounting to about S$8 million) to the State.
4	Su Baolin	Convicted and sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment for one count of abetting another to make false representations under Section 424A read with Section 109 of the Penal Code and two counts of money laundering under Section 55 of the CDSA. About 90 per cent forfeiture of seized/prohibited assets (amounting to around S$65 million) to the State.
5	Zhang Ruijin	Convicted and sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment for two counts of fraudulently using a forged document under Section 471 read with Section 465 of the Penal Code and one count of money laundering under Section 47AA of the CDSA. About 90 per cent forfeiture of seized/prohibited assets (amounting to about S$118 million) to the State.
6	Vang Shuiming	Convicted and sentenced to 13 months and six weeks’ imprisonment for one count of fraudulently using a forged document under Section 471 read with Section 465 of the Penal Code and two counts of money laundering under Section 55 of the CDSA. About 90 per cent forfeiture of seized/prohibited assets (amounting to about S$179 million) to the State.
7	Chen Qingyuan	Convicted and sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment for one count of fraudulently using a forged document under Section 471 read with Section 465 of the Penal Code and two counts of money laundering under Section 55 of the CDSA. About 91 per cent forfeiture of seized/prohibited assets (amounting to about S$21.3 million) to the State.
8	Lin Baoying	Convicted and sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment for two counts of fraudulently using a forged document under Section 471 read with Section 465 of the Penal Code and one count of money laundering under 47AA(1) punishable under Section 47AA(2) of the CDSA. About 90 per cent forfeiture of seized/prohibited assets (amounting to about S$154 million) to the State.

Annex B – List of current charges against remaining two accused persons

Name

Details of offences

Su Jianfeng

(12 charges)

Four counts of Section 54(1)(c) CDSA for offences of money laundering; and
Eight counts of Section 468 Penal Code read with Section 471 Penal Code for offences of using forged documents for the purpose of cheating.

Wang Dehai

(2 charges)

One count of Section 54(1)(c) CDSA and one count of Section 47(1)(b) CDSA for offences of money laundering.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
30 May 2024 @ 6:30 PM