A FOURTH accused in the more-than-S$3-billion money laundering case is set to plead guilty on Apr 30, court records on Friday (Apr 19) show.
Zhang Ruijin, who is currently in remand, faces three charges related to forging bank documents used to cheat CIMB Bank.
Charge sheets allege that, in 2020, he had forged documents stating that he had owned and sold two properties in Macau and another stating that he had borrowed funds from a Hong Kong company, and intended to submit these documents to CIMB Bank. He is represented by two teams – lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam and his eponymous law firm, as well as a team from RS Solomon.
Around S$109.8 million in assets related to him and two companies he owns with his purported girlfriend Lin Baoying – Golden Eagle Assets and Golden Eagle Family Office – have been seized by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) or issued prohibition of disposal orders, which means that they cannot be sold.
Lin also faces three charges in relation to the ongoing money laundering case – two for forging documents to cheat CIMB Bank and OCBC, as well as one for intentionally perverting the course of justice by falsely telling a CAD officer that her assistant had prepared one of the forged documents. She is also in remand.
Zhang and Lin, both Chinese nationals, are among 10 foreign nationals facing various charges linked to Singapore’s largest money laundering case. Besides Zhang and Lin, three have been sentenced to between 13 and 14 months’ jail, while the other five are in remand.
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The 10 were nabbed in an island-wide anti-money laundering blitz on Aug 15, 2023. Zhang and Lin were arrested at their residence, a bungalow along Pearl Island at Sentosa Cove. Zhang also possessed a passport from St Kitts and Nevis, while Lin had passports from Turkey, Cambodia and Dominica. Since his arrest in August, Zhang has applied for bail twice. Both attempts were denied by the State Courts, due to Zhang being a flight risk and a possible risk of collusion while investigations were ongoing.
