Latest news with #goldbars
Telegraph
7 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Gold bars and designer handbags up for auction after £1.7bn laundering gang jailed
A haul of gold bars, Hermes handbags, designer watches and jade necklaces seized in Singapore's biggest money laundering case is to be sold at auction. Ten members of a Chinese crime syndicate that had set up a remote gambling ring in the Philippines involving goods worth £1.7 billion were arrested in simultaneous raids across Singapore in August 2023. Two of the suspects jumped off the second-floor balcony of a house trying to flee arrest. The team of 400 officers impounded a fleet of high-end cars and seized 152 properties in expensive neighbourhoods. In total, around £577,435,000 of assets belonging to the gang were seized. The nine men, and one woman, all from Fujian province on the east coast of China, were sentenced in June last year to between 13 months and 17 months imprisonment for money laundering and related offences. Police announced on Tuesday that 466 items, including 50 branded handbags from Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Dior and Chanel, 58 gold bars, and 14 designer watches were to be handed over to the international consulting company Deloitte. Deloitte is intending to sell the items over auction and the proceeds, along with the forfeited cash, will go into Singapore's consolidated fund, the equivalent of a bank account held by the government, police said. Each gold bar weighs 1kg and is worth approximately £80,000. The gang's operation began to fall apart after its ringleader Su Jianfeng, a 36-year-old Vanuatu national, aroused suspicions from his bank about the source of his income when he deposited huge sums of money into his accounts. Jianfeng and his wife, Chen Qiuyan, had built a sprawling empire of companies and a fortune estimated at £107,000,000. A fraud investigation revealed that Jianfeng had submitted false documents to his bank to try and verify his income. Investigators uncovered how Su Jianfeng was involved in an unlawful remote gambling business overseas, in which he ran and promoted gambling websites. He was arrested in the raids with his co-conspirators and charged with four counts of money laundering offences, eight counts of fraudulently using a forged document, one count of employing a foreigner without a valid work pass and one count of abetment of making a false declaration in an application for a work pass. In a search of his home, police found £320,000 in cash locked in a safe. He was sentenced to 17 months imprisonment. Many of the gang members had multiple passports from Cambodia, Vanuatu, Cyprus and Dominica. All the gang members were deported from Singapore. Su Haijin, a Cypriot national, was even photographed at dinners with Singaporean ministers and a ruling party lawmaker. Two former bankers from Citibank and Swiss private bank, Julius Baer, were accused of helping the gang members illegally apply for loans with forged documents. A further 17 suspects are wanted in connection with the case and are on the run. David Chew, director of the commercial affairs department, the police investigating arm for white collar crime, said: 'To protect Singapore's financial system, the police will spare no effort to detect abuse, arrest the criminals and deprive them of their ill-gotten gains. In Singapore, these criminals will not find safe harbour for themselves or their wealth.'
CNA
12-08-2025
- Business
- CNA
Seized luxury goods, gold bars from S$3b money laundering case handed over for liquidation
Scroll up for the next video X Seized luxury goods, gold bars from S$3b money laundering case handed over for liquidation
Russia Today
08-08-2025
- Business
- Russia Today
US slaps tariffs on gold bars
The US has imposed tariffs on imports of gold bars, according to media reports on Friday, citing a notice from Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Analysts say the decision could harm Switzerland's gold refining sector and shake up the global bullion market. According to the Financial Times, which first broke the story, CBP stated in a July 31 ruling letter that 1kg and 100-ounce gold bars – the most commonly traded formats – should fall under a customs code subject to tariffs. The reported move brings gold bars under US President Donald Trump's new tariffs, which target dozens of trade partners, including Switzerland. Trump imposed a 39% tariff on Swiss goods last Friday after rejecting Bern's offer of a 10% tariff in exchange for $150 billion in US-bound investment. When the tariff campaign began in April, some commodities – including certain bullion types – were exempt. The CBP ruling, issued in response to a Swiss refinery's request, said 1kg and 100-ounce bars are considered 'semi-manufactured' goods rather than 'unwrought, nonmonetary gold,' the only exempt category. Switzerland is the world's largest gold refining hub, and bullion is one of its biggest exports to the US. Traders told Bloomberg it's unclear whether the tariffs are already in effect. Some said CBP may have erred, calling the decision 'shocking' and likely to face legal challenges. 'We never ever thought that [gold bars] would be hit by a tariff,' Robert Gottlieb, a former JPMorgan Chase metals trader, said. Christoph Wild, the president of the Swiss Association of Manufacturers and Traders of Precious Metals, told FT the ruling 'deals a blow' to Swiss-US gold trade, saying the widespread belief had been that 'remelted bullion was tariff-free.' Experts say the fallout could disrupt the global bullion market. Gold is often used as a safe store of value during times of political and financial uncertainty. It has seen a historic rally this year, rising 27% since the end of 2024. Following the FT report, gold futures in New York hit an all-time high, with December contracts climbing to $3,534 on Friday morning.
Bloomberg
08-08-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
US Adds Surprise Gold Bar Tariff in Blow to Switzerland, FT Says
The US government has placed tariffs on imports of one-kilogram gold bars, threatening to shake up the bullion market and dealing a blow to Swiss trade, the Financial Times has reported. The industry had expected gold bars to be classified under customs codes exempt from President Donald Trump's country tariffs. However, Customs Border Protection has placed one-kilo and 100-ounce gold bars under a code that is subject to the levies, the newspaper reported, citing a ruling letter dated July 31.
Yahoo
03-08-2025
- Yahoo
$3M lost after woman falls for porn purchase, gold bar scam
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — A man was arrested after police said he was found scamming a woman out of around $3 million during a fake pornography purchase and gold bar scam. In June, detectives began investigating a fraud scheme that spanned both Lehigh and Luzerne counties, and a victim was identified from Upper Milford Township. A 68-year-old woman told state police that in January, she had received a computer notification that someone had used her bank account to purchase $18,000 for pornography, police say. The victim didn't seek help because she was embarrassed by the accused's purchase of pornography, the release stated. This is a tactic that scammers use to get victims to comply, officials noted. The notification included a number that the victim could call to speak with the 'fraud department' at her bank. Police said when the victim called, she spoke with someone who pretended to be an agent with the 'Federal Trade Commission.' Man accused of endangering child after firing gun inside home The scammer said her bank account had been compromised, advising the victim to remove the funds from her account and purchase gold bars, the release states. The scammer told the victim that she should give the gold bars to 'couriers' for 'safekeeping.' From February 2025 through May 2025, the victim made large purchases of gold bars and gave them to the 'couriers' as directed by the scammers. On May 13, 25-year-old Dharmikkumar Sutariya of Scranton arrived at the victim's home, acting as a 'courier', and was given two gold bars valued at more than $215,400, according to investigators. Detectives stated the loss to the victim is over $3 million. Sutariya has been charged with theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, theft by deception, and other related offenses. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
