WANTED PERMANENT RESIDENCY STATUS
Xinbao Investment Holdings was incorporated on Nov 23, 2017. When the company was first registered, its business activity was stated as “Other Holding Companies” and development of other software and programming activities. This was later changed to management consultancy services in 2021.
Between 2020 and 2022, Su conspired with Wang Junjie of LW Business Consultancy to grossly inflate Xinbao’s financials to give the false impression that the firm was profitable.
In fact, Xinbao had no business operations in 2020.
Xinbao made investments into legitimate companies from 2021, however the financials submitted to IRAS were fictitious and inflated.
Your submitted the figures to increase your chances of obtaining Singapore permanent residency status. He and Wang Junjie applied for him and his family to be permanent residents in Singapore on Aug 18, 2022. These applications were eventually not approved.
Su was also worried that if Xinbao did not appear to be profitable, the Ministry of Manpower would not renew its employment pass.
“As the dependent passes of his four children and parents were tied to his employment pass with Xinbao, the accused was also concerned that these dependent passes would not be renewed,” said the prosecution.
SENTENCING ARGUMENTS
The prosecution argued for 14 to 16 months’ jail while Su’s lawyer Sunil Sudheesan sought 12 months and three weeks’ jail.
Similar to the earlier cases of accused persons dealt with before Su, the prosecution accounted for mitigating factors such as Su’ early plea of guilt and his voluntary surrender of a majority of his assets in Singapore.
However they argued that general deterrence was still a key sentencing consideration, and cited aggravating factors such as the transnational nature of the offenses, the large amounts involved, and its abuse of Singapore’s financial and social infrastructure.
Mr Sudheesan told the court how his client moved to Singapore with his wife and four young children in 2017. His parents joined him later that year.
“Prior to relocating to Singapore, our client owned multiple businesses abroad. Through these businesses, our client accumulated considerable wealth. While our client dabbled in the gaming industry at certain points in time, our client’s earnings through the gaming industry were relatively minimal,” said Mr Sudheesan.
The family had relocated to Singapore as one of the children has autism spectrum disorder, and they felt the child could receive ideal treatment and education here. Singapore’s tropical climate and advanced medical treatment was also better for Su’s heart condition – a congenital heart disease that results in less oxygen being pumped to the body.
Mr Sudheesan added that his client was assessed to be at high risk of gastric cancer.
“The authorities were aware since August 2023 of the accused person’s cancer risk. Eight months and two weeks later, the cancer risk is still present,” he said, adding that a biopsy was only done in April, with the results not yet out.
District Judge Ow Yong Tuck Leong said that the court needed to send a strong signal that such activities will not be tolerated in Singapore. I have backdated the sentence to Su’s date of arrest on Aug 15, 2023.
For possessing property suspected of being derived from criminal conduct, Su could have been jailed up to three years’ jail, or a fined up to S$150,000, or both.
For making a false representation, Su could have been jailed for up to 20 years, or fined, or both.
