SINGAPORE: The seventh of 10 suspects to be caught up in Singapore's multibillion-dollar money laundering crackdown was on Thursday (May 23) sentenced to 15 months in jail.
Chen Qingyuan, a 34-year-old Cambodian national, pleaded guilty to three out of 10 charges.
These include conspiring with his girlfriend Wang Qiujiao to submit forged documents to Standard Chartered in response to the bank's queries about payments into her account.
Chen's jail term is the longest among those dealt with so far and on par with Zhang Ruijin, who was also sentenced to 15 months' jail in April.
The 10 individuals were arrested during a simultaneous raid on Aug 15, 2023. Police have seized more than S$3 billion (US$2.2 billion) worth of assets so far.
In Chen's case, more than S$23 million of his assets were seized. Some were funded by him but held under Wang's name.
Chen will forfeit about 90 per cent of his assets, with Wang agreeing to have those held in her name surrendered as well. These include an apartment in the River Valley area worth more than S$10 million and cryptocurrencies with an estimated value of more than S$1.8 million.
Authorities also seized S$614,750 in foreign currencies and a white Land Rover worth about S$1 million. These were suspected to be proceeds from remote gambling offences overseas.
He was unable to provide a satisfactory explanation for how these assets came about.
In determining their proposed sentence for Chen, the prosecution and defence referred to the six people before him who were handed jail terms of between 13 and 15 months.
The prosecution, represented by Deputy Public Prosecutors Michelle Tay, Foo Shihao and Pavithra Ramkumar, argued for Chen to be jailed for between 15 and 17 months - the highest sentencing range among the accused.
Chen's lawyer, Mr Gary Low from Drew and Napier, argued for Chen to be jailed for 14 months, pointing out that the circumstances of his client's case did not call for the stiffest jail term.
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Chen Qingyuan, a 34-year-old Cambodian national, pleaded guilty to three out of 10 charges.
These include conspiring with his girlfriend Wang Qiujiao to submit forged documents to Standard Chartered in response to the bank's queries about payments into her account.
Chen's jail term is the longest among those dealt with so far and on par with Zhang Ruijin, who was also sentenced to 15 months' jail in April.
The 10 individuals were arrested during a simultaneous raid on Aug 15, 2023. Police have seized more than S$3 billion (US$2.2 billion) worth of assets so far.
In Chen's case, more than S$23 million of his assets were seized. Some were funded by him but held under Wang's name.
Chen will forfeit about 90 per cent of his assets, with Wang agreeing to have those held in her name surrendered as well. These include an apartment in the River Valley area worth more than S$10 million and cryptocurrencies with an estimated value of more than S$1.8 million.
Authorities also seized S$614,750 in foreign currencies and a white Land Rover worth about S$1 million. These were suspected to be proceeds from remote gambling offences overseas.
He was unable to provide a satisfactory explanation for how these assets came about.
In determining their proposed sentence for Chen, the prosecution and defence referred to the six people before him who were handed jail terms of between 13 and 15 months.
The prosecution, represented by Deputy Public Prosecutors Michelle Tay, Foo Shihao and Pavithra Ramkumar, argued for Chen to be jailed for between 15 and 17 months - the highest sentencing range among the accused.
Chen's lawyer, Mr Gary Low from Drew and Napier, argued for Chen to be jailed for 14 months, pointing out that the circumstances of his client's case did not call for the stiffest jail term.
Continue reading...