Singapore hands final offender in money laundering scandal longest jail sentence

Su Jianfeng, 36, was convicted on Thursday last week after he pleaded guilty to one charge each of possessing almost S$551,000 in criminal proceeds from running an illegal remote gambling service and fraudulently using a forged property sale contract to explain the source of deposits into his bank account.

Another 12 charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

The prosecution had sought a jail term of between 17 and 18 months, while the defence had asked for a lower sentence of 14 1/2 months.

Delivering his brief remarks on his decision on Monday, District Judge James Elisha Lee outlined the general need for deterrence for such transnational crimes to protect Singapore’s reputation as a financial hub.

He also noted the higher amount involved across Su’s charges – compared to those already convicted – and other aggravating factors like premeditation and the multiple banks that became victims to Su’s crimes.

However he also took into consideration Su’s plea of guilt and his agreement for the state to forfeit 95.5 per cent of his assets.

Su’s jail term was backdated by almost 10 months as he has been in remand since August 2023.

The other nine linked to this case were sentenced to between 12 and 16 months’ imprisonment.

In a statement to the media after Su’s hearing, chief prosecutor Tan Kiat Pheng said that the amounts involved across the 10 cases “make this one of the largest money laundering cases that Singapore has prosecuted”.

“The swift prosecution of these 10 cases is a strong message to would-be criminals that Singapore will not tolerate attempts to flout our laws,” he added.

The court previously heard that Singapore Police Force’s Commercial Affairs Department had been receiving information of possible