06/07/2024 | Press release | Archived content
On 7 June 2024, Wang Dehai ("Wang"), a 35-year-old Cypriot national, was convicted and sentenced to 16 months' imprisonment for an offence under Section 55 of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act ("CDSA"). An additional five charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.
Wang was one 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.
The Police subsequently seized and prohibited disposal of about S$54.5 million worth of assets belonging to Wang, his wife Su Caihuang, and their companies. The State Court has ordered the forfeiture of about S$49.2 million (about 90 per cent) of the assets to the State.
Background of the case
Investigations revealed that since 2012, Wang had been involved in a group that operated an unlawful remote gambling business based in the Philippines, which offered remote gambling services to persons in the People's Republic of China.
Wang started working as a customer service staff for the unlawful remote gambling business in the Philippines, and received a monthly salary. He became a promoter around 2014 and was given a 3% share of the annual profit. In 2016, Wang received a total income of RMB 80 million. In 2022, while he was no longer involved in the operation of the remote gambling business, he received a payout of HKD 8 million, which was his last payout from the business.
During the raid conducted by the Police on 15 August 2023, Wang had in his possession a luggage containing cash amounting to S$2,299,950 at his home. During the raid, Wang initially claimed that he was unaware of the contents of the luggage as the luggage belonged to his wife. Wang admitted that the cash in the luggage belonged to him, after the Police asked his wife to open the luggage. Subsequently, he gave inconsistent accounts for the source of these monies. He first claimed that it was partly derived from the sale of his cryptocurrency, with some possibly handed to him by his brother-in-law, Su Yongcan, or from his winnings from mahjong games. His eventual account was that these monies were a loan from Su Yongcan to him, which he had collected from an unknown person in the vicinity of ION Orchard shopping centre around the end of October 2022. Wang has not substantiated any of these accounts and had failed to account satisfactorily as to how he came to possess the cash.
Wang was charged with the following offences:
Related cases
Eight of the accused persons arrested during the same raid: Su Wenqiang, a 32-year-old Cambodian national; Su Haijin, a 41-year-old Cypriot national; Wang Baosen, a 32-year-old Chinese national; Su Baolin, a 42-year-old Cambodian national; Zhang Ruijin, a 45-year-old Chinese national; Vang Shuiming, a 43-year-old Turkish national; Chen Qingyuan, a 34-year-old Cambodian national; and Lin Baoying, a 44-year-old Chinese national; have been convicted and sentenced. Annex A sets out the sentencing outcomes of the nine accused persons who have been convicted and sentenced in relation to this case.
Court proceedings for the last accused person related to the case, Su Jianfeng, are ongoing. Annex B sets out the offences with which he has been convicted.
Annex A - Sentencing outcomes of nine accused persons
SN |
Name |
Sentencing outcomes |
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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Annex B - Pending court case against one accused person
SN |
Name |
Details of offences |
1 |
Su Jianfeng |
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