SINGAPORE: Fifteen of the 17 foreigners who fled Singapore amid the probe in the S$3 billion money laundering case have agreed to surrender about S$1.85 billion (US$1.37 billion) worth of assets to the state, said the Singapore Police Force (SPF) on Monday (Nov 18).
Court orders have been made for the surrender of those assets, which forms 98.6 per cent of the total assets seized from them.
The police added the 15 foreigners have been barred from returning to Singapore and their cases had been “dealt with”.
CNA understands that this means the cases against all 15 of them are now effectively closed.
Investigations into the other two foreigners are ongoing.
“Assets amounting to S$144.9 million linked to them remain seized or the subject of prohibition of disposal orders,” SPF added.
The cases involving the 17 foreigners fall under one of Singapore’s largest money laundering probes. Investigations began in 2021 with tip-offs on a group of foreigners using forged documents to launder money in the country.
This led to the simultaneous arrests of nine men and one woman – with origins in China – in moneyed estates around the country in August 2023.
In the months following the arrests, billions of dollars worth of assets linked to the offenders and other suspects on the run were seized – including hard cash, luxury properties, branded goods, cryptocurrency and alcohol.
All 10 foreigners were subsequently convicted of money laundering, among other offences, and sentenced to jail.
Of the total assets seized from the 10 offenders or otherwise linked to them, about S$944 million worth of assets, or 92.1 per cent, were surrendered to the state, the police said on Monday.
The last of the 10 offenders was sentenced in June. All of them have been deported following their jail terms and are barred from re-entering Singapore.
