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Cambodian national Chen Qingyuan, 34, who is wanted in China for fraud,was reportedly jailed on 23 May for 15 months over his involvement in Singapore’s largest money laundering case.

Chen was convicted of two money laundering charges and one forgery-related charge, the Straits Times reported late last week. Chen is the first of the seven foreigners convicted so far to appear in court in person. The other six had attended court proceedings via video link, the report said. 

Chen faced 10 charges in total, including four money laundering charges. The other six charges were forgery-related.

Of the over S$23 million ($17 million) in assets seized from Chen after his arrest on 15 August 2023, about 90 per cent – or S$21.3 million – will be forfeited to the state.

Singapore has been probing a money laundering case that has so far seen more than S$3 billion in assets seized.

In the Chen case, the forfeited assets include over S$8 million in bank accounts, more than S$1 million in luxury watches and S$2.2 million in cars.

The other six men convicted in this case are Vang Shuiming, Su Wenqiang, Su Haijin, Wang Baosen, Su Baolin and Zhang Ruijin. They were all sentenced to between 13 and 15 months’ jail, the ST reported.

They each agreed to forfeit between $5.9 million and $180 million in assets to the state, including the assets Chen has agreed to forfeit. Over $560 million in assets have been forfeited by them.