SINGAPORE: Two suspects linked to the S$3 billion (US$2.31 billion) money laundering case spent more than S$69.8 million on properties in London while on the run from the authorities in Singapore.
The Straits Times, working with investigative reporting group, the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), learnt that the pair had purchased the properties through their UK-listed firms between July and September 2023.
One of the suspects, Su Binghai, bought nine apartments in London worth S$27 million just one week after he escaped police raids in Singapore.
China-born Su Binghai, who holds Cambodian citizenship, and has passports from Vanuatu, a South Pacific Ocean nation, and St Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean, was among 17 suspects who evaded arrest during the police operation on Aug 15, 2023.
In all, 10 foreigners were arrested that day. They were eventually convicted, sentenced and barred from returning to Singapore.
Property deeds and other official documents seen by ST and OCCRP showed that Su Binghai purchased nine units at The Broadway on Aug 22, 2023.
The Broadway at St Jaime’s Park, a high-end development in London, is about a 10-minute walk from Buckingham Palace.
The mixed-development private estate comprises six buildings with 258 apartments, including 16 penthouses.
In response to queries from ST and OCCRP, UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) on Nov 7 said that it has seized Su Binghai’s assets, including the nine properties, after reaching a settlement with the businessman to recover assets deemed to represent the proceeds of crime.
NCA said the High Court in London had granted an Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO) as well as a freezing order for Su Binghai’s UK assets in April 2025.
UWOs may be issued when authorities have reasonable grounds to suspect the asset in question was obtained through unlawful conduct.
The order requires the individual or organisation to explain how they obtained the asset.
“Su Binghai chose not respond to the UWO, and instead instructed Counsel to submit an application to discharge the UWO and freezing order. The hearing of the discharge application was listed for Nov 5, 2025,” an NCA spokesperson said.
The NCA also seized three Jurassic-era dinosaur skeletons that were purchased by Su Binghai for £12.4million (US$16.32 million) in a December 2024 auction in London.
The fossils of one adult and juvenile Allosauruses and a Stegosaurus that were found in Wyoming, United States, are believed to be around 150 million years old.
Rob Burgess, head of Asset Denial, said: “While the recovery of dinosaur fossils is unusual, they demonstrate the value of the Proceeds of Crime Act which allows us to recover suspected criminal assets, whatever form they take.
“The result is the same, be it cash, houses or dinosaur bones; preventing people benefiting from the proceeds of crime.”
A collection of 11 Chinese artworks that were purchased in a 2022 auction for more than £400,000 was also seized.
A court order mandated that 25 per cent of the proceeds of the sale of the recovered assets will be paid into a bank account nominated by Su.
“Su Binghai will also repay over £340,000 in rental income from the London apartments. The total recovered is expected to be in the region of £20 to 21 million,” said the NCA.
ST previously reported that Su Binghai had fled Singapore the same night the raids took place in Singapore on Aug 15, 2023.
After an employee drove him across the causeway, he caught a flight at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Aug 17, 2023.
The 10 foreigners who were nabbed were given jail sentences and made to forfeit their cash and assets.
