SINGAPORE – A fourth person in Singapore’s largest money laundering case intends to plead guilty on April 30, court records on April 19 show.
Chinese national Zhang Ruijin, 45, faces three charges of forging documents to cheat CIMB bank.
The fake documents include two sale agreements for properties in Macau and a loan agreement stating he had borrowed funds from a Hong Kong company.
Zhang, who has been in custody for more than eight months, was arrested with his lover Lin Baoying, 44, in a bungalow at Pearl Island in Sentosa Cove on Aug 15, 2023.
They were among 10 foreigners arrested in an anti-money laundering police probe that saw more than $3 billion in cash and assets seized.
Zhang and Lin have known each other for more than a decade and their combined assets in Singapore are worth about $325 million, according to affidavits by investigating officers on the case.
Lin, also a Chinese national, has had about $215.5 million in assets seized or frozen by the authorities. For Zhang, the amount in assets seized or frozen is worth at least $109.8 million.
Lin, the only woman in the group, faces two charges of forgery and one over perverting the course of justice.
The pair were denied bail in October 2023 as they were flight risks, with multiple passports each. Zhang failed in his second attempt to secure bail in December that year.
He is represented by two legal teams – one led by Mr Eugene Thuraisingam and the other by Mr Richard Siaw from R.S. Solomon.
On April 2, Cambodian national Su Wenqiang, 32, who had 11 charges in total, was sentenced to 13 months’ jail after pleading guilty to two counts of money laundering. He was the first in the group to be sentenced.
On April 4, Cypriot national Su Haijin, 41, was sentenced to 14 months’ jail after pleading guilty to one count of resisting arrest and two money laundering charges. He had 14 charges in total.
On April 17, Chinese national Wang Baosen, 32, was sentenced to 13 months’ jail after he pleaded guilty to two charges of money laundering. He had eight charges in total.
