21-5-2024 (SINGAPORE) In a dramatic escalation of Singapore’s multibillion-dollar money-laundering investigation, Lin Baoying, the lone woman among the 10 suspects, found herself slapped with seven new charges on Tuesday (May 21). The fresh allegations relate to the possession of suspected criminal proceeds and the submission of forged documents to banks.
Following the tendering of the charges, Lin’s lawyer, Mr. Chew Kei-jin, informed the court of his client’s intention to plead guilty. The 44-year-old Chinese national, appearing via video-link and aided by a Mandarin interpreter, then spoke up, requesting an early date for her plea.
The new charges bring the total number of offenses leveled against Lin to 10. Previously, she had been charged with forging documents to facilitate the sale of a property in Macau and for lying about her involvement in preparing the sale document.
The two original forgery charges were amended on Monday, with Lin now accused of submitting a forged agreement for a property sale in Macau to CIMB Bank and Standard Chartered Bank, justifying deposits totaling nearly HK$197.5 million (approximately US$25.2 million).
In the fresh charges, Lin allegedly submitted similar forged property sale documents to UOB Kay Hian and the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC), purportedly to justify deposits of HK$12.5 million across both accounts.
Prosecutors further allege that Lin possessed nearly HK$210 million (around US$26.8 million) in suspected criminal proceeds held across four bank accounts under her name.
Additionally, she is accused of conspiring with two individuals, Liu Kai and Li Hongmin, to forge a tax payment certificate with the intention of using it to defraud Bank Julius Baer & Co.
Lin is scheduled to return to court for a pre-trial conference on Thursday.
Her partner, Zhang Ruijin, 45, had previously pleaded guilty to three charges in April for his role in the money-laundering operation, receiving a 15-month jail sentence.
The couple was apprehended last August in a bungalow located in the upscale Pearl Island at Sentosa Cove.
During earlier court proceedings, prosecutors revealed that Lin had a teenage daughter residing on Beach Road with a domestic helper, while she herself lived separately in Sentosa. The combined assets between Lin and Zhang amounted to approximately S$325 million (US$240 million), with Lin holding the larger share.
The investigation, which has seized or frozen over S$3 billion (US$2.2 billion) in assets, has been dubbed Singapore’s largest money-laundering probe and is likely one of the largest such operations worldwide.
To date, six of the 10 suspects have been convicted and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 13 to 15 months, with more than S$540 million (US$398 million) in assets forfeited to the state.
