$3b money laundering case: Singaporean jailed for lying to police

New Paper

2 days ago

The personal driver of Su Binghai - one of the fugitives in the $3 billion money laundering case - has been dealt with for lying to the police about his boss' luxury cars worth $8.3 million.
Liew Yik Kit, 42, is the first Singaporean to be convicted and sentenced in relation to Singapore's largest money laundering case.
On June 30, Liew was sentenced to three months' jail after pleading guilty to lying to the police.
Another charge of obstructing the course of justice was taken into consideration during sentencing.
The $3 billion money laundering case saw 10 foreign nationals arrested in multiple islandwide raids here on Aug 15, 2023.
The 10 foreigners have been jailed, deported and barred from re-entering Singapore.
Su Binghai was driven by Liew out of Singapore via Tuas Checkpoint on the evening of Aug 15 - the day of the raids.
The pair then stayed at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur before Liew dropped Su off at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Aug 17, 2023.
Investigations revealed that before Su flew off, he instructed Liew to help him sell his four luxury cars which were parked in his home in Singapore.
These were a Rolls-Royce Phantom, a Rolls-Royce Cullinan, a Ferrari F8 Spider and a Ferrari Stradale worth a total of $8,364,297.
Liew agreed as he expected to get a commission of around 1 per cent - or around $80,000 - for the sale of the cars.
Su then left the four cars and their keys in Liew's possession.
On Aug 18, 2023, after returning to Singapore, Liew went to Su's house and drove the four cars out, one after another, and parked them at a multi-storey carpark in Upper Boon Keng Road.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Louis Ngia said Liew did this despite not yet identifying a buyer for the cars as he wanted to quickly take control of the vehicles.
Subsequently, Liew contacted car brokerage company Pro Carz to arrange the sale of the four cars. He then drove all four to Roxy Square on Sept 1, 2023.
The keys to the four cars remained with Liew while the sale was being arranged.
On Sept 11, 2023, Liew was called to give a statement on investigations into Su. He lied to the police that his boss did not leave any valuable properties in his possession.
Worried that the police would find out that he had the keys to Su's four cars, Liew then drove the cars back to the multi-storey carpark in Upper Boon Keng Road.
Liew's acts came to light when the police received information on Oct 5, 2023, that a blue Rolls-Royce, which was in the care of Su Binghai's brother, Su Bingwang, was found parked at Roxy Square's carpark.
It was there because Liew was also arranging for it to be sold by Pro Carz, said DPP Ngia.
This led the police to discover that the Pro Carz dealer had also applied for season parking at Roxy Square for the four other luxury cars - but they could not be found there.
The car dealer later told the police that the four cars were in Liew's possession, and Liew was arrested.
DPP Ngia said Su Binghai has not returned to Singapore since he left on Aug 15, 2023.
In October 2024, Su Binghai and his wife, Wang Manzu, agreed for their assets to be surrendered to the state. These surrendered properties, including the four cars, were valued at more than $316.6 million, said the prosecutor.
Assets worth about $1.85 billion have been surrendered to the state by 15 foreigners who are on the run from the police in relation to this money laundering case. In return, the Interpol Red and Blue Notices against them were withdrawn.
Seeking a jail term of three to four months for Liew, DPP Ngia said Liew lied to the police as he was blinded by greed, trying to sell the cars to get a commission.
Because he gave false information to the police, the cars were recovered almost one month later, and after significant effort had been put in the investigation, said the prosecutor.
In mitigation, defence lawyer Kanagavijayan Nadarajan noted his client's early plea of guilt.
Mr Kanagavijayan added that Liew subsequently cooperated with the police and helped the authorities recover two cars owned by Su Bingwang - a blue Rolls-Royce and a white McLaren.
For giving false information to a public servant, an offender can be jailed for up to two years, fined, or both.