S$1B Laundering Case: 11 more assets in S’pore linked to suspects

Eleven more properties were issued with prohibition of disposal orders in the billion-dollar anti-money laundering case involving foreigners from Fujian, said the Singapore police yesterday.

This takes the total number of properties issued with prohibition of disposal orders in the case to 105, after 94 properties were earlier issued with the orders. The orders mean the suspects cannot sell the properties.

The 105 properties, estimated to be worth S$831 million, include seven detached bungalows at Sentosa Cove and 79 condominium units, 19 of which are under construction.

Another 19 commercial or industrial spaces were issued with the prohibition of disposal orders. The police said the properties are owned by the individuals under investigation.

They include the 10 who have been charged, other individuals wanted by the police, their spouses, or companies linked to these people.

The good class bungalows (GCBs) where the foreigners from Fujian were arrested in the islandwide anti-money laundering blitz on Tuesday are not owned by them, said the police.

The GCBs are not part of the 105 properties issued with prohibition of disposal orders. The police said they have neither seized nor issued prohibition of disposal orders against any GCBs in relation to the case.

The police conducted a massive island-wide blitz on Tuesday, hitting several GCBs and high-end condos across Singapore simultaneously to nab several suspects involved in possible illicit activities.

The properties raided included ones in Tanglin, Bukit Timah, Orchard Road, Sentosa and River Valley. Ten people, including a woman, were charged on Wednesday night.

Ranging in age from 31 to 44, they are suspected to be involved in offences of forgery, money laundering or resisting arrest.

The accused hold multiple passports, but are originally from Fujian, China. Another 12 are assisting in investigations, while eight more people are currently on the run and have been placed on a wanted list.

The police said on Wednesday that the blitz involved more than 400 officers, including those from the Criminal Investigation Department, Commercial Affairs Department, Special Operations Command and Police Intelligence Department.

The group of foreign nationals are allegedly involved in laundering the proceeds of their organised crime activities overseas, and are also linked to scams and online gambling.

The police had identified them through extensive investigations, including the analysis of suspicious transaction reports made by financial institutions.