Zhang was the fifth of 10 accused persons to be dealt with by Singapore’s courts in relation to the S$3 billion (US$2.2 billion) money laundering case. He forfeited around S$118 million in assets to the state, which amounted to about 90 per cent of the S$131 million worth of assets originally seized by the police.
The case, which concluded in June, involved 10 foreigners and billions of dollars worth of assets such as hard cash, luxury properties, branded goods, cryptocurrency and alcohol.
About S$944 million (US$697 million) in assets seized in relation to the 10 criminals embroiled in one of Singapore’s largest money-laundering probes was forfeited to the state, while the 10 individuals who were convicted were sentenced to between 13 and 17 months’ jail.
Investigations are ongoing against 17 other suspects who are not currently in Singapore. Assets linked to these suspects make up the rest of the total S$3 billion figure seized.
WHY WAS ZHANG AND SIX OTHERS DEPORTED TO CAMBODIA?
Seven individuals who were convicted in the S$3 billion money laundering case, including Zhang, were deported from Singapore to Cambodia. The others are Su Baolin, Su Haijin, Su Wenqiang, Wang Baosen, Chen Qingyuan and Lin Baoying.
Vang Shuiming was deported to Japan, while Wang Dehai was deported to the UK and they are all barred from re-entering Singapore. Only Su Jianfeng, a 36-year-old Vanuatu national with roots in Fujian, China, remains in Singapore. He was sentenced to 17 months’ jail last month.
Despite acknowledging that three of the seven deported individuals do not hold Cambodian passports, based on publicly available information, Singapore’s Minister of State for Home Affairs and for Social and Family Development Sun Xueling said on Jul 2 the priority was to quickly and effectively deport the convicted foreigners.
Foreigners who have been convicted of offences in Singapore and are to be deported can indicate which country they would like to be deported to, she added.
But it is not a case of the offenders saying “I choose and therefore I will be sent there”, Ms Sun then said in response to a parliamentary question by Ms Sylvia Lim (WP-Aljunied). “There needs to be an assessment by the ministry as to whether or not the individual can be admissible to the country, based on the travel document that he or she holds,” she explained.
“Such foreigners can go to any country to which their passport or travel document allows them to go. This applies similarly to the convicted foreigners in the S$3 billion money laundering case.”
Ms Sun said that for convicted foreigners with multiple passports, the ministry will have to decide which country they have the greatest likelihood of being admissible to, and then make an assessment before deporting them.
Minister of State for Law and Transport Murali Pillai added: “In the absence of extradition, the position is that after conviction and serving of sentence, the offenders will be required to leave Singapore.
“What happens to them in those countries or in their countries of nationality is not within our control.”
CNA has contacted GDI for more information on where Zhang was deported to, as well as the immigration status of the six other individuals who were deported from Singapore to Cambodia.
