SINGAPORE – A man arrested in the $2.8 billion money laundering case claims to be the chief executive of a computer support firm, but does not even know where his office is.

In fact, investigations show this firm is a shell company, prosecutors said on Wednesday, in arguing against bail for Vanuatu national Su Jianfeng. He faces four money laundering charges.

Deputy Public Prosecutors Edwin Soh and Sarah Thaker said the 35-year-old has no true roots in Singapore, which is proved by his lack of legitimate employment here.

In their submissions to deny him bail, the DPPs said: “He claims that he is the CEO of An Xing Technology, which he purports is an active company with ongoing projects.

“However, investigations show that this is a shell company.”

They added that as at Aug 15, which was when Su and nine others were arrested for their suspected involvement in this money laundering case, An Xing Technology had only a single corporate bank account which was largely dormant.

Said the DPPs: “There were totally no deposits made into this account in 2023.

“Further, and critically, the accused himself said in his statements that despite him being CEO, he is ‘unclear’ of the company’s business and does not even know the location of its office.”

The DPPs said this showed Su had little to no involvement in the firm.

They added: “His assertion that the company somehow roots him to Singapore is without merit.”

The prosecution also noted there were reasonable grounds to believe Su was guilty of the money laundering charges handed to him.

His four charges involve a total of over $17 million, which he claimed was linked to a friend named Ah Ler whom he met in Dubai, said the DPPs.

They said: “According to the accused, this mysterious Ah Ler would be able to ‘attest to the source of funds’. This is glaringly vague.”

Referring to the affidavit written by the investigation officer in Su’s case, the DPPs said no details were provided about the whereabouts, background or contact information of Ah Ler. In fact, investigations showed there was no evidence to suggest that Ah Ler exists.

On Wednesday, Su was denied bail by District Judge Terence Tay.

He had also refused bail for three others involved in this case – Lin Baoying, Zhang Ruijin and Wang Dehai.

In an affidavit, senior investigation officer (SIO) Lim Yong Khiang of the Criminal Investigation Department supported the prosecution’s application that no bail be granted to Wang.

SIO Lim said Wang was a customer service employee who dealt with punters in a Philippines-based online gambling business.

Wang, 34, who faces two money laundering charges, was recruited in 2012 into the online gambling business, which provided remote gambling services to people in China.

SIO Lim said that after working as a customer service employee, the Cypriot national became a promoter, which involved posting advertisements for online gambling on popular websites.

He was paid in cash or bank transfers and now owns over $56 million in cash and assets in Singapore and overseas.

He was charged in August with being in possession of $2.3 million, which allegedly represented his benefits from criminal conduct. He was also accused of buying a unit at The Marq on Paterson Hill with $23 million which was, in part, also benefits from criminal conduct.

SIO Lim said evidence showed the money in both charges can be linked to such illegal remote gambling operations that he was allegedly involved in overseas.

Court documents show that more than $42 million of Wang’s assets here were seized, including a property worth $23 million, $2.3 million in cash, $3.7 million of cryptocurrency, $12.6 million in bank accounts and two vehicles worth $550,000.

SIO Lim said Wang admitted to having substantial wealth overseas, including two houses in Xiamen, China, worth around $1.06 million and a house in Cyprus with an estimated value of $2.9 million.

His overseas assets include money in Hong Kong bank accounts amounting to more than $10.4 million.

Separately, $19,000 in cash and $8.9 million in a bank account belonging to his wife, Su Caihuang, were seized.

SIO Lim said CID has prohibited the disposal of jewellery, wines, luxury watches and bags belonging to his wife.

Other accused individuals involved in the case also own substantial assets.

Lin, who is the only woman charged, owns over $215 million worth of assets here, which have been taken control of by the authorities.

These assets include over $9.6 million in cash, $130 million in 14 bank accounts, $1.8 million in cryptocurrency, five real estate properties worth $72 million and two vehicles worth $1.6 million.

The 44-year-old also told investigators she has over $30 million worth of assets overseas, including six residential properties in the United Kingdom worth $10 million and properties in the Philippines and Dubai.

Meanwhile, at least $109 million in assets linked to Lin’s lover Zhang, 45, were seized or subjected to prohibition of disposal orders.

These include four properties worth $27 million, four vehicles worth $5.4 million, over $14 million in cash and $60 million in 13 bank accounts.