SINGAPORE: Liu Kai, a Chinese national and former relationship manager at Swiss private bank Julius Baer, is set to plead guilty to abetting one of the convicts in the S$3 billion money laundering case by using a forged document.

The charge relates to Liu’s assistance to Lin Baoying, the only woman convicted in the case, who submitted a forged tax document in November 2020.

According to police statements, Liu allegedly received various alterations of the forged document from Lin before submitting the final version to the bank as a supporting document to facilitate the opening of a bank account in Switzerland.

During the court proceedings on 23 October, Liu’s defence counsel, Anthony Wong of Lee & Lee, indicated that Liu is “prepared to take a certain course, subject to resolving certain issues with prosecution pertaining to ongoing investigations and the current charge.”

The prosecution noted that the Commercial Affairs Department of the police is still conducting investigations into Liu, having recently received new information.

Liu is currently out on bail of S$15,000. His next court appearance is scheduled for a pre-trial conference on 22 November.

In addition to Liu, two other individuals have been charged in connection with the S$3 billion money laundering case.

Liew Yik Kit, 41, the personal driver to Cambodian national Su Binghai, who fled during the investigation and is wanted for alleged money laundering offences, was handed two charges on 15 August this year: one for lying to the police and another for obstructing the course of justice.

Liew, being a first Singaporean charged in this case, has indicated his intention to plead guilty to the charge related to lying to the police.

Liew allegedly informed the police that he did not possess any valuables belonging to Su Binghai, despite having four luxury cars belonging to the businessman, including a Rolls-Royce Phantom and a Ferrari F8 Spider.

The third individual, Wang Qiming, received 10 charges on 15 August, which include forging a document, abetting forgery, possessing laundered sums, and obstructing the course of justice.

Wang, 26, a former relationship manager at Citibank, is alleged to have lied to an officer from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.

A spokesperson for Citibank confirmed that Wang has not been employed by the bank since April 2022 and stated that the bank does not comment on matters currently before the courts.

Affidavits produced during the hearings of the ten foreigners indicated that Wang was first investigated over alleged forgery claims before his arrest in 2021.

Liew is currently out on bail of S$15,000 and is scheduled to appear in court on 14 November, while Wang was granted bail of S$25,000 and will return to court on 6 November.

Dismissed Philippine mayor allegedly tied to convicts in Singapore’s S$3B money laundering case

Lin Baoying, who was sentenced to 15 months in jail on 30 May for one count of money laundering and two counts of fraudulently using a forged document, was deported to Cambodia in June after completing her sentence, and is barred from re-entering Singapore.

The other nine individuals convicted in the case have also been deported following the completion of their sentences. All ten foreigners, who are of Fujian origin, were arrested by Singapore authorities on 15 August 2023, and assets, including properties and luxury cars, were confiscated.

Lin Baoying, along with Zhang Ruijin, another Chinese national convicted in the S$3 billion money laundering case, are currently named in charges filed in the Philippines against former mayor Alice Guo.

They, along with 11 others, are accused of human trafficking, forcing dozens of individuals to work for a firm conducting scam operations. Lin’s current whereabouts remain unclear following her deportation from Singapore.

SINGAPORE: The trial of Workers’ Party (WP) chief and Leader of the Opposition, Pritam Singh, will not proceed today (22 October) after the court was informed that his lead lawyer, Mr Andre Jumabhoy, is unwell.

After over an hour’s delay to the proceedings on 22 October, Singh’s other lawyer, Mr Aristotle Emmanuel Eng Zhen Yang, informed the court that Mr Jumabhoy had received a medical certificate declaring him unfit for court for two days.

Deputy Principal District Judge Luke Tan approved the defence’s application to stand down the trial until the afternoon of 23 October.

Mr Eng stated that he would provide an update to the court in the morning regarding Mr Jumabhoy’s condition and whether the proceedings could resume at 2.30pm.

Originally scheduled to begin at 11am on 22 October, the trial was delayed until approximately 12.20pm as lawyers from both sides consulted with the judge in chambers.

Mr Singh is facing two charges of lying to a parliamentary committee about his handling of former WP Member of Parliament (MP) Raeesah Khan’s 2021 admission that she had lied in Parliament regarding a false anecdote of sexual assault case.

Both the prosecution and defence had been awaiting the judge’s decision on an application made by Mr Jumabhoy the previous day.

This application sought to tender former WP cadre Yudhishthra Nathan’s unredacted messages from 4 to 12 October 2021, in court.

Mr Jumabhoy also requested the redacted versions of these messages between Mr Nathan, fellow WP cadre Loh Pei Ying, and Ms Raeesah Khan, along with the reasons Mr Nathan had provided to the Committee of Privileges (COP) for the redactions.

Mr Jumabhoy argued that this was a reasonable line of inquiry, as it directly pertains to the credibility of Mr Nathan and Ms Loh’s testimonies.

However, the prosecution objected, asserting that the COP’s findings and the redacted messages are not relevant to the criminal trial.

Deputy Attorney-General Ang Cheng Hock highlighted that Singh’s first charge relates to a meeting with Ms Khan on 8 August 2021, while the second charge concerns a subsequent meeting on 3 October 2021.

He pointed out that the redacted messages pertain to a time after these meetings.

Judge Tan stated on 21 October that part of the prosecution’s case relies on the meeting between Singh, Mr Nathan, and Ms Loh on 12 October, making the credibility of the two WP cadres a significant issue, as it “goes to whether their evidence is to be believed or not.”

The judge indicated that he would review the message logs alongside evidence from Mr Nathan before making a decision.

Ms Khan had, on 3 August 2021, recounted an account of accompanying a sexual assault victim to a police station, claiming the victim was treated insensitively.

She repeated this claim before the House on 4 October of the same year, before admitting to the falsehood on 1 November 2021.

For each charge, Mr Singh faces a maximum penalty of a S$7,000 fine, a jail term of up to three years, or both.

The defence is expected to conclude its cross-examination of Mr Nathan on 23 October.

Following the completion of the prosecution’s re-examination of Mr Nathan, it is anticipated that former WP secretary-general Low Thia Khiang will be called as the next witness.

The trial, scheduled for 16 days in total, will see its first tranche conclude on Thursday. The second tranche, consisting of seven days, will begin on 5 November, with intermittent breaks throughout.