SINGAPORE: The last of 10 individuals prosecuted in the S$3 billion (US$2.2 billion) money laundering case pleaded guilty in court on Friday (Jun 7) and was handed the longest jail term so far at 16 months.
Wang Dehai, 35, faced six charges, two of which are related to money laundering, while the rest are employment offences.
The Cypriot was nabbed with nine other foreigners during simultaneous raids islandwide in 2023.
On Aug 15, 2023, Wang had S$2,299,950 in cash that was suspected to be benefits from remote gambling offences. He failed to account for how he came by the money. He pleaded guilty to this charge, while the rest were taken into consideration for his sentencing.
Around Nov 29, 2019, Wang also used S$23 million to buy a unit at The Marq condominium near Orchard Road. These funds were also suspected to have been obtained through remote gambling offences and Wang failed to account for them.
The employment offences are for falsely representing himself as a brand manager and a business consultant for Craft Digital between 2018 and 2022 to obtain employment passes, and for hiring a housekeeper without a valid work pass.
Wang is the last individual in connection with the case to have pleaded guilty in court. The nine that came before him have had millions of dollars in assets, including luxury goods and properties, seized and surrendered.
Around S$54 million in assets, including cash, cryptocurrency, luxury items and property were seized from Wang, who was involved in a remote gambling business in the Philippines from the early 2010s. Wang has agreed to surrender 90 per cent of the assets.
He recruited a few others, including Su Wenqiang and Su Jianfeng, who have been convicted.
Wang and his family relocated to Singapore in 2018, as he wanted his children to be educated here.