Money laundering case: Son led police to parents' room before dad jumped off balcony

Andrew Wong
The Straits Times
Sept 13, 2023

The eldest son of Su Haijin, one of the accused in the $1.8 billion money laundering case, led police officers to his parents’ bedroom during the islandwide blitz on Aug 15.

A team of officers had entered Su Haijin’s home in Ewart Park in Bukit Timah, where they met his eldest son, at around 6.40am.

He led them to the door of his parents’ bedroom and called for his father to come to the door, which was locked, said Mr Thia Yang Shen, a Commercial Affairs Department officer, in his affidavit on Sept 8.

He said Su Haijin did not respond and officers told him to step out of the room.

Despite warnings that the team would storm in if he failed to comply, Su Haijin still did not respond.

The officers stormed the room and did not find him there.

Suspecting Su Haijin had jumped off the second-floor balcony, they searched around his home, and found him hiding in a drain outside.

Su Haijin faces one charge of resisting arrest, and one charge under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act for possessing over $4 million in a UOB account.

In his affidavit to support the prosecution’s application that no bail be granted to the accused, Mr Thia said the circumstances surrounding Su Haijin’s arrest were telling.

He said Su Haijin’s son had asked his father to come to the door without giving any indication of danger, but the elder Su immediately became unresponsive and chose to make a quick exit.

The 40-year-old fractured his feet and wrist after jumping from his balcony.

Said Mr Thia: “Yet, the accused still made considerable effort to descend a flight of steps to exit the premises from a side gate and hid in a drain.”

According to Mr Thia’s affidavit, the police seized or issued prohibition of disposal orders to the assets of Su Haijin and his wife, Wu Qin, worth $171,340,000.

The assets include more than $120 million in properties and more than $2.6 million in vehicles.

Su Haijin’s family is believed to be moving out of the Ewart Park good class bungalow.

Large boxes and movers have been spotted at the house since Sept 4.

When The Straits Times visited their home on Sept 11, a moving truck was seen taking boxes from the house to Gramercy Park, a condominium in the Orchard area.

Business records of Su Haijin show his registered address is a unit at the condo.

In the affidavit, Su Haijin also admitted to having 10 properties abroad worth more than $14.2 million.

They included one condo in Cambodia, three condos in Cyprus, one property at Oxford Street, London, and five condos in Macau.

He also has partial ownership of a yacht named Family which is valued at US$4 million (S$5.45 million).

He is alleged to have made payments for the yacht with Su Baolin, a co-accused in the money laundering case, and two others in 2022.

The court was told the yacht was registered in the name of a fifth individual.

The three unidentified people linked to the vessel had left Singapore either before or soon after investigations started.

Mr Thia said Su Haijin had not been forthcoming about his dealings with Su Baolin in relation to the yacht and other properties, and had only come clean after being confronted by the police.

ST previously reported in August about the luxury yacht which had been docked at One°15 Marina in Sentosa Cove.

The yacht, which is not owned by any of the 10 arrested in the money laundering case, was cleared to depart on Aug 19. Photo: The Straits Times

The 38m-long vessel was built in 2020 in Italy, and features four decks made of fibreglass and carbon fibre.

It can carry up to 10 passengers and sails under the flag of the Cook Islands, a nation in the South Pacific.

An online advertisement for a similar yacht in Turkey has an asking price of about €15.6 million (S$23 million).

Previous checks by ST found that Family was initially not allowed to leave the marina on Aug 18, but was cleared to depart on Aug 19.

The court was told on Wednesday the vessel had last been traced to Phuket in Thailand.

But according to a vessel finder website, Family left Phuket on Aug 24, and has been anchored at Langkawi, Malaysia, since Aug 25.

When ST contacted Craft Docket, an agent company that manages the vessel, on Wednesday, a representative said the vessel is registered to an individual whose name does not match any of the 10 accused in the money laundering case.

She declined to reveal the name of the individual.