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.
OCCRP’s recent Dubai Unlocked investigation, which involved more than 70 international media outlets, showed the extent to which the Gulf emirate’s real estate sector has been flooded with suspicious funds.
United Arab Emirates authorities did not respond to detailed questions sent before Dubai Unlocked was published, but they said the country “works closely with international partners to disrupt and deter all forms of illicit finance.”
The new data — which was obtained after Dubai Unlocked — reveals luxury real estate purchases by Wang Bingang and a woman who is reported to be his wife, though she is not a suspect in the Singapore investigation.
They spent over $14 million in 2023 on five adjacent units on the 43rd floor of Seapoint Tower. The 57-story skyscraper faces Palm Jumeirah, a man-made archipelago shaped like a palm tree that fans out from Dubai's coast.
Wang Bingang was the founder of a Chinese gambling syndicate called Hongli (meaning “great profits” in Mandarin), which handled illicit proceeds worth over $130 million, the Straits Times has reported. He spent three years in jail in China between 2015 and 2018, after being convicted for his involvement in Hongli.
The second Singapore suspect, Chen Zhiqiang, purchased units in Wilton Park Residences, along with at least four properties in District One, which are both part of a Dubai development called Mohammed Bin Rashid City. The purchases, made between 2021 and 2023, totalled $13 million.
Meanwhile, Ke Wendi spent $1 million on a unit in the Grande Downtown Dubai, a skyscraper where at least four members of the Singapore money laundering syndicate bought out entire floors. Ke Wendi is also wanted in China for alleged involvement in illegal gambling.
The whereabouts of Wang Bingang, Chen Zhiqiang, and Ke Wendi are unknown, and the names of their lawyers have not been made public. OCCRP attempted to reach them via emails sent to agencies that registered their companies, but received no responses.
Singaporean police said they have already dealt with “15 of the 17 foreign nationals’ cases,” although they didn’t specify which of the new suspects they were referring to.
“They have been barred from returning to Singapore,” police said in their statement.
The 15 suspects “agreed to surrender” about $1.37 billion in assets to the government. That’s in addition to the $1.32 billion in assets that authorities confiscated last year.
The seizures would only apply to assets within Singapore. Police did not respond to a request for comment on whether they have asked UAE authorities to help seize properties uncovered by OCCRP in Dubai.
