Ministers Ong Ye Kung and Chee Hong Tat issued a joint statement through their press secretaries on 6 May 2025, stating they have no personal relationship with convicted money launderer Su Haijin.
The clarification came after photos showing both ministers at dinners where Su was present were posted online by former Reform Party chairman Charles Yeo on 4 and 5 May.
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“As ministers, they meet a diverse range of people at various events and gatherings,” the statement read. “They attended the dinners at the invitation of a friend, and Su happened to be there.”
The statement added that Minister Ong recalled Su’s presence at another dinner months later.
Both ministers emphasised they do not know Su personally and “have had no contact or dealings with him, before or since these occasions.”
Money Laundering Case and Su Haijin’s Criminal Background
Su Haijin, a Cypriot national, was one of ten people convicted in Singapore’s $3 billion money laundering case last year.
Su was sentenced to 14 months’ jail on 4 April 2024 after facing 14 charges. He was subsequently deported to Cambodia on 28 May 2024.
He gained notoriety for jumping from the second-floor balcony of a good-class bungalow at Ewart Park in Bukit Timah during a police raid on 15 August 2023.
Su admitted to one charge of resisting arrest and two money laundering charges. The latter involved possessing more than $1.4 million suspected to be criminal benefits in Yihao Cyber Technologies’ DBS Bank and UOB accounts.
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More than 90 per cent of Su’s assets—worth over $165 million—were seized by authorities. These included:
- 13 properties worth about $91 million
- $45 million in bank accounts
- 69 Bearbrick collectible toy figurines
- Seven vehicles worth more than $3.3 million
- Nine luxury watches worth almost $19 million
- Three country club memberships worth over $1 million
Government Integrity Standards
The press secretaries’ statement emphasised that “the PAP government upholds a high standard of integrity and the ministers are determined to uphold this, even though in the course of their work, they may inadvertently come into contact with people who are later established to be unsavoury.”
“Maintaining this standard is non-negotiable,” the statement concluded.
The ten people arrested were reportedly part of the Fujian gang, an organised crime syndicate based in Fujian, China.
Charles Yeo, who posted the images online, is currently out on bail in the UK, where he faces an extradition hearing after Singapore requested his return.
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Yeo fled Singapore after criminal charges were filed against him in August 2022.
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