Financial Crime World

Turkish National Vang Shuiming Faces Six New Charges in Singapore’s Largest Money-Laundering Case

Overview

  • A Turkish national, Vang Shuiming, faces six new charges related to fraud and forgery in Singapore’s biggest money-laundering case.
  • He now faces a total of 22 charges.

New Charges

  • On March 27, Vang was hit with new charges for submitting forged financial statements of Xiamen Yetian Trading and Xiamen Likanghang Trading for the years 2017 to 2019 to Julius Baer’s Singapore branch.

Previous Charges

  • Vang’s initial charges included submitting forged financial statements for the same companies and Xiamen Mingxin Guarantee to UOB Kay Hian.
  • Other charges range from possessing S$2.4 million in criminal benefits to submitting a forged bank statement to Citibank Singapore.

Court Proceedings

  • During the court proceedings, Vang’s lawyer asked for the additional charges to be handled separately.
  • The court heard that over S$200 million in assets and S$962,000 in cash were seized from Vang upon his arrest.

Assets Seized

  • The seized assets include 11 units at luxury integrated development Canninghill Piers and one unit at Park Nova.

Background

  • Vang and his brother, Wang Shuiting, are wanted by Chinese authorities for their alleged involvement in illegal online activities.
  • Vang has been denied bail twice and is currently being held due to his substantial overseas wealth and multiple passports.
  • Two of the 10 accused are scheduled to plead guilty in April.
  • Vang will appear in court again on April 4 for a pre-trial conference.

Status of the Case

  • This case is under investigation and more updates will follow as the legal proceedings continue.

Forged Financial Statements

Vang Shuiming, a Turkish national and one of the 10 suspects in Singapore’s largest money-laundering case, was hit with six new charges related to fraud and forgery on March 27, 2023. He now faces a total of 22 charges.

According to court documents, Vang allegedly submitted forged financial statements of Xiamen Yetian Trading and Xiamen Likanghang Trading for the years 2017 to 2019 to Julius Baer’s Singapore branch as supporting documents on July 19, 2022.

Previous Forgery Charges

  • Vang had previously been accused of submitting forged financial statements for the same two companies and Xiamen Mingxin Guarantee to UOB Kay Hian.
  • His other charges ranged from possessing S$2.4 million in criminal benefits generated from unlicensed moneylending operations in China to submitting a forged bank statement to Citibank Singapore.

Court Proceedings and Seized Assets

During the court proceedings, Vang’s lawyer, Wendell Wong of Drew & Napier, asked District Judge Shawn Ho to handle the additional charges separately in chambers. Wong stated that “a lot of these issues related to the banks” had already been brought up earlier but the charges have been “staggered.”

The court heard that over S$200 million in assets and S$962,000 in cash were seized from Vang upon his arrest. He is believed to have financed 11 units at luxury integrated development Canninghill Piers and one unit at Park Nova.

Vang and his brother, Wang Shuiting, are wanted by Chinese authorities for their alleged involvement in illegal online activities. Vang has been denied bail twice by the High Court following his arrest last August, even after his counsel proposed measures such as electronic tagging and 24-hour camera surveillance. The judge determined that Vang posed a flight risk due to his substantial overseas wealth of S$35.5 million and multiple passports from countries including China, Turkey, and Vanuatu.

Two of the 10 accused, Su Wenqiang and Su Haijin, are scheduled to plead guilty on April 2 and 4, respectively. Vang will appear in court again on April 4 for a pre-trial conference.

Case Update

This case is under investigation and more updates will follow as the legal proceedings continue.