On 10 June 2024, Su Jianfeng, a 36-year-old male Vanuatu national, was sentenced to 17 months’ imprisonment for one count 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 54(1)(c) of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act (“CDSA”). Su Jianfeng pleaded guilty to these charges and was convicted on 6 June 2024. An additional 12 charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.
Of the 10 foreign nationals arrested on 15 August 2023, during a large scale, island-wide raid conducted by Police in relation to their investigations into a group of foreign nationals suspected of laundering the proceeds of overseas organised crime activities in Singapore, Su Jianfeng is the last one to be sentenced in Court.
The Police seized and prohibited disposal of about S$187 million worth of assets belonging to Su Jianfeng, his wife Chen Qiuyan, and their companies, following the island-wide raid. The State Court has ordered the forfeiture of about S$179 million (about 95 per cent) of the assets to the State.
Background of the case
Investigations revealed that between November 2020 and May 2023, Su Jianfeng submitted forged documents to his bank relationship managers in response to queries from the financial institutions on incoming payments into his bank accounts and his family’s source of wealth. This included a forged Property Sale Contract (“forged contract”) purportedly for the sale of an apartment, Property Number 2302 (“the Property”) in a project named ‘Residences_E2’ in the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, in response to Maybank Singapore Ltd’s (“Maybank”) queries on two payments totalling S$1,999,940 that had been deposited into Su Jianfeng’s account in December 2020. Su Jianfeng had instructed one Su Xiaobo via WhatsApp to create the forged contract that was used to deceive Maybank that these payments were derived from the sale of the Property purportedly owned by him.
Investigations also revealed that Su Jianfeng was involved in an unlawful remote gambling business overseas, in which he helped in the advertising of the gambling websites and the management of the workers operating and maintaining the websites. In return, Su Jianfeng earned a share of the criminal proceeds generated from the unlawful business. During the Police’s raid on 15 August 2023, the Police seized cash amounting to S$550,903 from a safe in Su Jianfeng’s home which was derived from the unlawful business.
Su Jianfeng was charged with the following offences:
- Four counts of money laundering offences under Section 54(1)(c) of the CDSA;
- Eight counts of fraudulently using a forged document under Section 471 read with Section 465 of the Penal Code;
- One count of employing a foreigner without a valid work pass under Section 5(1) of the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (“EFMA”); and
- One count of abetment of making a false declaration in an application for a work pass under section 22(1)(d) read with Section 23(1) of the EFMA.
Summary of cases involving the 10 accused persons
All 10 of the accused persons arrested during the same raid on 15 August 2023 have been convicted and sentenced for money-laundering and other offences. Annex A sets out the sentencing outcomes of these accused persons.
The value of assets linked to the 10 accused persons which have been seized and issued with prohibition disposal orders total more than S$1 billion to date. About S$944 million worth of these assets have been ordered by the Court to be forfeited to the State.
Investigations are ongoing against 17 other persons who are not in Singapore. The Police will maintain the prohibition against disposal and custody of the seized assets associated with these individuals, until they are dealt with by the Court at the conclusion of the case.
Director CAD, Mr David Chew said, “Our swift and firm law enforcement efforts and the successful prosecutions of these 10 offenders are testament to our commitment to tackle transnational crime and disrupt the activities of organised crime syndicates. The Court has also ordered the forfeiture of more than 90 per cent of the seized/prohibited assets linked to these 10 offenders. To protect Singapore’s financial system, the Police will spare no effort to detect abuse, arrest the criminals and deprive them of their ill-gotten gains. In Singapore, these criminals will not find safe harbour for themselves or their wealth.”
Annex A – Sentencing outcomes of ten accused persons
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Name |
Sentencing outcomes |
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1 |
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2 |
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3 |
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4 |
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5 |
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6 |
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7 |
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8 |
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| 9 | Wang Dehai |
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| 10 | Su Jianfeng |
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SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
10 June 2024 @ 10:45 AM