On August 15, 2024, Singaporean authorities will charge two former bank employees and a personal driver linked to the largest money laundering investigation in the country’s history. This follows a raid conducted a year prior, which involved over 400 police officers targeting multiple luxury residences.
The city-state has charged two former bankers, Wang Qiming and Liu Kai in connection with a scandal involving the laundering of S$3 billion (approximately $2.3 billion).
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Two former employees from local banks both Chinese nationals aged 26 and 35 will face charges related to money laundering and forgery.
Wang Qiming was formerly a relationship manager at Citibank. Wang is accused of forging a loan document to deceive his bank regarding the source of funds deposited into an account belonging to Vang Shuiming, a convicted associate in the case.
Additionally Wang is alleged to have been in possession of nearly $482,000 in cash, which he failed to account for.
The 41-year-old Singaporean driver, who previously worked for the businessman Su Binghai faces charges for misleading the police about the whereabouts of valuable assets and for disposing of four vehicles belonging to Su.
The $3 billion money laundering probe initiated in August 2023 and it was a landmark operation that led to simultaneous raids across residential areas in Singapore.
Authorities seized approximately $3 billion in cash and assets including luxury goods such as jewelry, watches and vehicles. Additionally, prohibition of disposal orders was issued to prevent the sale or transfer of these assets.
Among the 10 individuals convicted in this case were Su Baolin, Vang Shuiming and others, who had previously agreed to surrender over $900 million as part of their plea deals.
The remaining funds were linked to suspects who fled Singapore during the probe.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has intensified its regulatory oversight conducting reviews of financial institutions implicated in the case.
The Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra) has also tightened regulations for corporate service providers with several firms and individuals facing sanctions for their involvement in the case.
Wang Qiming previously worked at Citibank Singapore Ltd. until April 2022. Wang faces 10 counts including forgery of documents with the intent to deceive the bank.
The charges include, Forging remittance receipts from an Indonesian company to justify two deposits totaling S$999,980 into a Citibank account.
Creating a false loan agreement to conceal the origin of a S$481,678 deposit made by a convicted money launderer, Su Baolin.
Assisting in laundering funds through forged documents for another convicted individual, Vang Shuiming.
Wang appeared in court dressed in a white hooded sweatshirt, black pants and white sneakers. He is currently out on bail and will return to court in September.
Liu Kai was formerly employed by Bank Julius Baer & Co. from February 2019 to June 2022. He then worked at Goldman Sachs (Singapore) Pte. until June 2024.
Liu is accused of aiding a convicted money launderer by submitting a forged Chinese tax document to facilitate the opening of a bank account in Switzerland around November 2020.
Liu, who appeared in court dressed in a dark blue polo shirt also declined to comment after the hearing. He is out on bail and is scheduled to return to court in September.
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The scandal first came to light a year ago leading to the arrest of wealthy foreign nationals residing in Singapore.
Authorities have seized assets including cash, real estate, cryptocurrencies and luxury items totaling around S$3 billion.
To date, ten individuals of Chinese origin have been convicted and jailed for their involvement in laundering illicit funds from overseas gambling operations and other criminal activities.
More individuals implicated in the scandal remain at large. Singapore’s Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has been closely inspecting banks involved in the scandal.
The convicted individuals and their associates held huge deposits at various financial institutions including Citigroup Inc. and UBS Group AG-owned Credit Suisse. These banks were among those holding the largest sums of illicit funds.
A spokesperson for Citibank confirmed that Wang was no longer employed with the bank as of April 2022. The bank has declined to comment further on the legal proceedings.
Julius Baer stated that they are fully cooperating with authorities and are committed to supporting efforts to maintain the integrity of Singapore’s financial system.
Goldman Sachs indicated that Liu’s alleged activities occurred prior to his employment with the firm and that they are not directly involved in the case.
A 41-year-old Singaporean, Liew Yik Kit was also charged. Liew, a personal driver for a suspect who remains at large was accused of helping dispose of luxury vehicles, two Rolls-Royces and two Ferraris and subsequently lying to the police about his actions.
This bill grants courts the authority to order the sale of seized properties without consent from involved parties and facilitates easier prosecution of money laundering offenses by removing the need to prove the criminal origin of laundered funds.
Announced on June 26, 2024, this strategy aims to deprive criminals of illicit assets and return them to victims.
Since January 2019, authorities have seized $6 billion linked to criminal activities with huge portions being returned to victims or forfeited to the state.
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