Chang was the fifth of 10 defendants to stand trial in a Singapore court in connection with a S$3 billion (US$2.2 billion) money laundering case. Chang has forfeited assets worth about S$118 million to the state, about 90 percent of the S$131 million worth of assets originally seized by police.
The case, which concluded in June, involved 10 foreigners and billions of dollars worth of assets including cash, luxury real estate, designer goods, cryptocurrency and alcohol.
About S$944 million (US$697 million) of assets seized in connection with 10 criminals caught up in Singapore’s largest money laundering investigation have been forfeited to the state, and those convicted were given prison sentences ranging from 13 to 17 months.
Investigations are ongoing into 17 other suspects who are not currently in Singapore. The remainder of the S$3 billion total seized is linked to assets linked to these suspects.
Why were Zhang and six others deported to Cambodia?
Seven people convicted in a S$3 billion money laundering case, including Zhang, have been deported from Singapore to Cambodia. The others are Su Baolin, Su Haijin, Su Wenqiang, Wang Baoshen, Chen Qingyuan and Lin Baoying.
Van Shuimin was deported to Japan and Wang Dehai to the UK and all three have been banned from re-entering Singapore. Only Xu Jianfeng, a 36-year-old Vanuatu national from China’s Fujian province, remains in Singapore. He was sentenced to 17 months’ imprisonment last month.
Singapore’s Minister of State for Home Affairs and Social and Family Development Sun Xueling said on July 2 that her top priority was to quickly and effectively deport convicted foreigners, despite acknowledging that publicly available information showed that three of the seven deported did not hold Cambodian passports.
Foreigners who are convicted in Singapore and face deportation can indicate which country they would like to be deported to, she added.
However, this does not mean that criminals are saying, “I chose them, so they will be sent”, Mr San said in response to a parliamentary question from MP Sylvia Lim (WP-Aljunied). “Based on the travel documents that a person possesses, ministries need to assess whether that person will be allowed to enter the country,” he explained.
“These foreigners can go to any country their passports and travel documents allow them to travel to. This also applies to the foreigners convicted in the S$3 billion money laundering case.”
Sun said foreigners with convictions who hold multiple passports must be assessed before being deported, with the ministry deciding which country they are most likely to be allowed entry to.
“If extradition is not carried out, it will mean that convicted criminals who have completed their sentences will have to leave Singapore,” Law and Transport Minister Murali Pillai added.
“What happens to them in those countries or their countries of nationality is outside of our control.”
CNA has reached out to GDI for more information about Zhang’s deportation destination and the immigration status of the six other people deported from Singapore to Cambodia.