Why Did The Fujian Gang Members Use Multiple Passports?

 

The faces of the suspected money launderers that stared back from the landing pages of Singapore's online media outlets in August 2023 were, at best, unimpressive. They looked more like illegal cigarette vendors on some of Singapore's seedier streets than multi-millionaires. The 10 that were caught (out of an undisclosed number) by a 400 strong police island wide operation had between them close to 3 billion Singapore dollars in cash, cars and condominiums funnelled from unlicensed money lending in China, online scams in Cambodia and remote online gambling operations in the Philippines. 

 

One common denominator among the suspects was they were all Chinese nationals with foreign passports. St Kitts and Nevis, Cambodia, Cyprus and Vanuatu passports were popular choices. (It is interesting to note China does not allow dual citizenship. Had they been caught in China they would have received far harsher sentences not only for their crimes but for breaking the dual citizenship law.)  

 

Fortunately, for them, they were convicted in Singapore and received relatively light prison sentences ranging from 13 – 17 months. After serving their prison sentences they were given a CHOICE of where to be deported. Not surprisingly, many of them chose Cambodia, where they hold passports and operate numerous illegal businesses. 

 

Let us go through the various steps on how a foreign passport would have come in handy when transferring profit derived from illegal activities in one country to purchasing assets in another country :-

 

Step 1: The criminal obtains passports from several countries, one from a country where laws are very lax to run their illegal business and another from a country which doesn’t tax earnings such as Vanuatu.  

 

Step 2 : The criminal then sets up the business in Cambodian border towns like Poipet on the Thai border and Bavet on the Vietnam border, both well known for its ‘special economic zones’ filled with casinos, online gambling centres and scam operators.  Mo

 

Step 3: The criminal will then set up a company in Singapore through a corporate service provider and apply for an employment pass sponsored by that company in Singapore. This is fairly easy to obtain and would entitle the convict to conduct business. The company would mostly be involved in trading in goods and the business would be legitimate for the first year or so to avoid raising any red flags with the authorities.

 

Step 4: Once things are going smoothly the criminal will through a corporate service provider in Singapore incorporate multiple companies in Vanuatu. The fact that he or she is a citizen of Vanuatu makes the setting up of such companies a mere formality and many service providers in Singapore offer this very legitimate service. 

 

Step 5: One of the companies in Vanuatu most likely an anonymous shell company  drafts a fake loan agreement stating that it has provided a loan to the Cambodia-based illegal business. 

 

Step 6:  The Cambodian illegal business "repays" the loan by transferring illicit funds into the company's bank account in Vanuatu. This allows dirty money to enter the international financial system under the pretense of debt settlement.

 

Step 7: The Vanuatu company moves the money often broken down in multiple smaller transactions through different accounts (often across multiple banks in different countries) to further obscure its origins. 

 

Step 8: The Singapore company, which the criminal is an employees of, will then start issuing invoices to the company in Vanuatu; some will be for real goods and services but most will be fake. 

 

Step 9 : The Vanuatu company will start remitting money from its multiple accounts in multiple banks in different countries to the suspect’s company account in Singapore. 

 

Step 10: The money remitted to the criminal’s company’s bank account in Singapore can then be used to purchase assets such as real estate, cars, and jewellery in the name of the criminal who can now claim the money is legitimate.