Money laundering case: Woman lived on Sentosa with lover, not daughter; S’pore roots overstated, says DPP

The only woman accused in the $2.8 billion money laundering case is said to have lived on Sentosa while her 15-year-old daughter lived with a maid at Beach Road.

And the person she was living with in a Sentosa Cove bungalow was her lover, who is also one of the accused in Singapore’s worst money laundering case.

In Lin Baoying’s bail review on Wednesday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Nicholas Tan said the 44-year-old Chinese national, who had claimed she lives in Singapore with her daughter, had been less than candid with the court.

He said: “In reality, the daughter resides in Singapore but not with the accused. They stay at separate residences.”

The DPP said the prosecution was not insinuating that she did not intend to fulfil her motherly duties, but argued that Lin’s claim to be rooted here because of her daughter was overstated.

He added Lin’s daughter was receiving adequate care while Lin was in remand, and it was clear they had separate living arrangements before her arrest.

In arguing for bail, her lawyer Mr Chew Kei-Jin said Lin, who faces two forgery charges and one for perverting the course of justice, was first interviewed by police in June 2022. She then left Singapore twice and returned.

He said this was not something a person seeking to abscond would do.

The first sign of trouble in Singapore’s largest money laundering case appeared in 2021 when the authorities noticed possibly forged documents being used to substantiate sources of funds in bank accounts here, Second Minister for Home Affairs Josephine Teo said in Parliament on Oct 3.

Updating the public on the case, she said after an extensive probe in 2022, the police uncovered a web of people allegedly transferring money, which was suspected to be earned from criminal activities, to Singapore from abroad.

In arguing against bail, DPP Tan said Lin has passports from countries to which she has no substantive ties to, including Turkey, Cambodia and Dominica - a country she had never been to.

He said she got the Dominican passport after paying US$130,000 (S$177,800) to an agent and the Cambodian one after paying US$160,000.

The DPP said the manner in which she bought the passports meant she could do so again through similar methods.

Mr Chew said apart from a social connection with four of the other accused in the case, she has not been shown to be connected to the others.

One of these connections was to Zhang Ruijin, 45, whom Mr Chew described as her “domestic partner”.

It was revealed in court on Aug 16 that Lin and Zhang were lovers, when they were among 10 foreigners charged in connection to the case.

Referring to Lin, Zhang had told the court: “You can separate her crimes from me, we are just lovers... You can bail me out, but remand her.”

In response to Mr Chew’s claim, DPP Tan said these connections were not simply meals and gatherings. But Lin had gone on holidays with Zhang and two other accused - Su Baolin and Su Haijin - and their wives.

Zhang, who faces a total of three forgery charges, also had his bail reviewed on Wednesday.

In arguing for bail, Zhang’s lawyer Mr Loo Choon Chiaw said his client was incapable of absconding as he did not have the means to do so. He said Zhang only had $93,000 left in his personal funds.

He said his client was gainfully employed as chief investment officer of Golden Eagle Family Office, which further demonstrated his ties to Singapore.

He said his client had also been interviewed in June 2022 and made two overseas trips - to Europe in July 2022 and Maldives in April 2023. He returned, proving he had no intention to abscond.

DPP Tan said Zhang had set up Golden Eagle to manage his wealth, and that essentially was the only function of his business.

He said the company was dependent on Zhang to function and given that his known wealth had been seized, the existence of this company was now in question. Therefore, it cannot be considered a significant root in Singapore.

On Aug 15, more than 400 officers led by the Commercial Affairs Department raided properties in locations including Tanglin, Bukit Timah, Orchard Road, Sentosa and River Valley.

Nine men and one woman, who were all originally from China, were charged the next day with offences including money laundering, forgery and resisting arrest.

Among the assets the authorities have taken control of are 152 properties and 62 vehicles with an estimated value of more than $1.24 billion, money in bank accounts amounting to more than $1.45 billion, and cash of various currencies worth more than $76 million.

Another of the accused, Wang Dehai, 34, also had his bail application heard on Wednesday.

In arguing against bail for Wang Dehai, the prosecutor said his brother-in-law Su Yongcan and his cousin Wang Huoqiang were accomplices who might help him abscond.

The Straits Times reported on Aug 21 that Su Yongcan, 32, and Wang Huoqiang, 29, were said to be on the run in 2018. And both men were known associates of Wang Dehai and two other accused - Vanuatu national Su Jianfeng, 35, and Su Wenqiang, 31, a Cambodian national.

Su Yongcan and Wang Huoqiang were among 72 individuals the authorities in China investigated in 2017 as they clamped down on illegal gambling activities.

Wang Dehai, a Cypriot national faces two charges under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act (CDSA). He was arrested at his condominium, The Marq, in Paterson Hill near Orchard Road.

He allegedly used proceeds from an illegal online gambling service based in the Philippines for customers in China to buy The Marq for $23 million in November 2019.

He also allegedly possessed $2.3 million from illegal remote gambling offences.

On Wednesday, DPP Soh said investigations show the money can be linked to such illegal gambling operations and that the prosecution has produced credible evidence that he committed the offences in the charges.

Wang Dehai’s defence lawyer Megan Chia said her client’s involvement in remote gambling between 2012 and 2016 was insufficient to prove he had committed the offences he had been charged with.

DPP Soh said even if remote gambling was legal in the Philippines, he had offered it to people in China and that a wanted notice in China for Wang Dehai was evident it was illegal there.

The DPP referred to an affidavit submitted by Ms Chia which stated that Wang Dehai had left China after the wanted notice was issued as he felt the potential sentence would suspend his civil liberties.

With Wang Dehai currently facing more serious charges in Singapore, the DPP said he would surely be motivated to abscond to avoid a lengthy prison term.

District Judge Tay adjourned his decision on Wang Dehai, Lin Baoying and Zhang Ruijin’s bail to this afternoon.

On Wednesday morning, another of the accused Cambodian national Chen Qingyuan, 33, was scheduled to have his bail reviewed. But it was postponed as he had recently changed lawyers.

His new lawyer, Mr Gary Low, said he had taken over the case two-and-a-half weeks ago and had filed an affidavit for his client on Tuesday. He said the prosecution had indicated it would require till Nov 3 to respond.

Chen who faces four charges under the CDSA will return to court on Nov 17.