Is Singapore getting more corrupt or are instances of crime and sharp dealing just getting more attention?
An exclusive from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, December 19:
Suspected members of a massive Singapore money laundering syndicate snapped up almost $30 million in Dubai properties, leaked data shows.
Singaporean authorities have announced 17 new suspects in their sprawling investigation of a money laundering network, which cleaned billions reaped from illegal gambling and cyberfraud.
Leaked data shows that three of those suspects bought properties worth at least $28 million in Dubai, which has become a magnet for dirty money from around the world.
Courts in Singapore have already convicted 10 members of the money laundering syndicate. They were arrested in August 2023, when more than 400 officers swept in on multiple locations throughout the Southeast Asian island state.
Prosecutors said shortly afterwards that they had seized $1.32 billion in cash, cryptocurrencies, and assets including luxury properties and jewelry.
OCCRP previously reported that some of those convicted in the case had bought up almost $60-million-worth of properties in London, as well as real estate totalling about $30 million in Dubai.
Now, Dubai property data obtained by OCCRP reveals even more investments by suspected members of the money laundering ring: Wang Bingang, Chen Zhiqiang, and Ke Wendi.
All three are Chinese, but like most convicted members of the Singapore money laundering ring, Chen Zhiqiang and Ke Wendi acquired Cambodian citizenship.
The leaked Dubai data shows that the suspects purchased at least 22 properties worth a combined $28 million at current exchange rates. Most of the transactions took place between 2021 and 2023, when the Singapore-based money laundering ring was active....
....MUCH MORE
Unrelated but noteworthy at The Edge, Singapore:
