$3b money laundering case: Convict Wang Dehai deported to the UK

SINGAPORE - Wang Dehai, the last of 10 foreigners to plead guilty in the $3 billion money laundering case, has been deported to the UK.

He was deported on July 6 after serving about 11 months of his 16-month jail term.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) told The Straits Times on July 8 that Wang, 35, has been barred from re-entering Singapore.

The Cypriot national, who was originally from China, was sentenced to 16 months’ jail in June after pleading guilty to one money laundering charge. He agreed to forfeit more than $49 million of his assets to the state.

On July 2, Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling said in Parliament that, while those with multiple passports can indicate which country they would like to be deported to, Singapore will deport them to countries most likely to accept them.

Wang’s deportation means that nine of the 10 convicted in Singapore’s largest money laundering case have left the country.

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Su Wenqiang and Wang Baosen were the first two men to leave Singapore on May 6. They were deported to Cambodia after serving about 8½ months of their 13-month jail terms.

Su Baolin and Su Haijin were deported to Cambodia on May 25 and 28 respectively, while Vang Shuiming was deported to Japan on June 1.

Su Baolin and Su Haijin were each sentenced to 14 months’ jail in April.

Vang was sentenced to 13 months and six weeks’ jail in May. The three men each served around 9½ months of their jail terms.

Chen Qingyuan, Zhang Ruijin and Lin Baoying were deported to Cambodia on June 15. They were each sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment and served 10 months of their jail terms.

This leaves Su Jianfeng, who was sentenced to 17 months’ jail in June, as the last convict in this case still in Singapore.

The 10 foreigners were arrested in August 2023 when the police conducted islandwide raids in a money laundering probe that saw more than $3 billion in assets seized.

Another 17 people who fled the country during the probe are on the run.

An ICA spokesman said in June that the convicts were deported on the earliest possible flights upon completing their jail sentences.

They were escorted directly from prison to the airport for deportation and were not allowed to return to their residences to collect their belongings, added the spokesman.

ICA said its technology for immigration clearance at Singapore’s checkpoints enables it to detect deported individuals even if they attempt to re-enter the country using another identity or passport.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.