TURKISH national Vang Shuiming, one of the 10 foreign nationals convicted in 2023’s S$3 billion money laundering scandal, has been arrested in Montenegro, according to a local media report.
On Jan 28, Montenegrin newspaper Vijesti said border police at Tivat Airport, which serves the coastal city of Tivat, arrested Vang after the authorities checked the details of passengers on a private plane from the Maldives against Interpol’s database.
This came after an international warrant of arrest was issued against him, said the newspaper.
The report did not indicate his date of arrest in Montenegro. Vang had been deported to Japan on Jun 1 last year, after he served his jail term in Singapore.
Vijesti reported that Vang, also known as Wang Shuiming, possessed travel documents from Vanuatu. Court documents in Singapore showed that he held passports from Vanuatu, Turkey and Cambodia, which he obtained by making financial contributions to these countries.
The report stated the Montenegrin authorities accused Vang of organising illegal betting via online platforms, which Chinese citizens participated in.
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Vang will be brought before a judge in the Higher Court in Podgorica, Montenegro’s capital, it added.
Vang was one of the foreign individuals nabbed in Singapore’s islandwide anti-money laundering blitz in August 2023. Assets involved in the case had swelled to S$3 billion as investigations were carried out, making it the Republic’s largest money laundering scandal yet.
Of the S$3 billion, S$199 million worth of assets belonged to Vang, his wife and their companies. He forfeited 90 per cent of the amount, or S$179 million, to the state, one of the highest amounts from the 10 convicts in the case.
Vang faced charges for crimes including submitting forged financial statements to financial institutions and possessing criminal benefits generated from unlicensed moneylending operations in China. He was sentenced to 13 months and six weeks jail, backdated to Aug 15, 2023.
The other nine foreign nationals received jail terms ranging between 13 and 17 months on charges related to money laundering, fraud and forgery.
Another 17 individuals linked to the case have fled the Republic, although 15 of them have surrendered their assets to the state.
The court cases of four others linked to the convicts of the money laundering scandal are still ongoing.
