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Two men who came under scrutiny by Singapore authorities investigating a massive money laundering ring spent huge sums buying London properties around the time police disrupted the operation in 2023.
One of the men, Su Binghai, also spent 12.4 million British pounds ($16 million) on three complete fossilized dinosaur skeletons, the U.K.’s National Crime Agency (NCA) said in a statement today.
The NCA said Su Binghai — a Chinese national living in the U.K. who “was linked to a money laundering investigation in Singapore” — has agreed to forfeit the properties and bones, as well as a collection of 11 Chinese artworks bought at auction for over $500,000.
Su Binghai will retain 25 percent of the profits from sales of those assets according to the forfeiture agreement, which was imposed under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
That law “allows us to recover suspected criminal assets, whatever form they take,” Rob Burgess, head of Asset Denial, said in an emailed statement. “The result is the same, be it cash, houses or dinosaur bones; preventing people benefiting from the proceeds of crime.”
Binghai Su also agreed to repay about $450,000 in rental income from his London properties, the NCA said.
Su Binghai and another man connected to the money laundering case, Xu Haika, both left Singapore following the August 15, 2023, raids by law enforcement. Police arrested 10 individuals — who were all reportedly from China but held various passports — and seized $2.3-billion worth of assets, which were deemed to be the proceeds of illegal gambling and cyber scam operations.
Su Binghai was not formally a suspect, but police wanted to question him as a “person of interest,” OCCRP reported in December 2023.
Su Binghai
Su Binghai and his wife agreed in October 2024 to surrender at least $243 million in assets to the Singapore government, in exchange for being removed from Interpol watchlists, the Straits Times reported. He has been barred from returning to Singapore.
The Singapore Police Force confirmed that Xu Haika is still under investigation. Neither Su Binghai nor Xu Haika responded to questions sent to the company service providers hosting their firms.
Xu Haika and Su Binghai spent at least 40.5 million British pounds ($51 million) between them on 25 luxury apartments in central London, according to company and property registry documents. The purchases took place between March and late August, 2023. Corporate records show that both men used passports acquired through citizenship for investment programs to set up U.K. companies.
Xu Haika, a 43-year-old from China who holds Cambodian citizenship, set up two U.K. companies using a passport from the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. One of those firms then purchased the 16 units in two adjacent new-build developments just off Oxford Street.
The combined value of Xu Haika’s properties at 1 and 2 Fareham Street, which sit directly above the bustling Tottenham Court Road’s Elizabeth Line tube station, total 24.7 million pounds ($30.9 million).
One of two adjoining properties just off Oxford Street where Xu Haika bought multiple apartments.
‘Su Empire’
Meanwhile, Su Binghai set up two U.K. companies using a passport issued by the Caribbean nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. He used one of those firms, Su Empire Ltd, to purchase his U.K. properties. The 37-year-old has also held passports from China and Cambodia, documents show.
Su Binghai’s nine luxury apartments are in “The Broadway,” new-build development in London that sits next to St. James’s Park, a stone’s throw from Buckingham Palace and Big Ben. The apartments are together worth 15.8 million pounds ($20.2 million).
The Broadway at London’s St James’s Park, where Su Binghai purchased 9 apartments.
All the units were purchased on August 22, 2023, a week after Su Binghai left Singapore as police busted the money laundering ring. Land Registry documents provided to OCCRP by the anti-corruption group Transparency International U.K. show that all nine units were subject to a freezing order by the NCA on April 10 this year.
The order prevents the sale or transfer of land and other assets suspected of being linked to criminal activity.
The NCA said in its statement that it obtained an unexplained wealth order against Su Binghai. Such an order requires the subject to provide evidence of the source of their money, and is used when authorities suspect assets were purchased with illicit funds.
Along with the properties, the NCA said Su Binghai agreed to hand over the dinosaur bones and Chinese artifacts, including Ming-era vases and bronze swords. The skeletons consisted of a juvenile and a mother Allosaurus pair, and a Stegosaurus.
Su Binghai had also invested in real estate in Dubai, OCCRP and the Straits Times reported in May 2024.
Singapore’s Biggest Laundering Case
More than 150 properties have been seized by Singapore authorities as part of a wider money laundering investigation. Some 68 gold bars, cryptocurrencies, millions in cash, 546 pieces of jewelry, and 62 vehicles were also impounded during the raids.
As Singapore’s largest-ever money laundering case, 400 police officers raided a number of luxury homes, as most of those arrested lived in upmarket areas and belonged to prestigious golf clubs.
When a Straits Times reporter visited Su Binghai’s Singapore residence in December 2023, a domestic worker said that more than 10 uniformed police had visited the property just weeks after the raids, looking for her employer.
Su Binghai founded the Hong Kong-based private equity outfit New Future International in 2017, corporate registry data shows. He became a co-owner of the firm the following year along with Wang Dehai, one of those convicted in the Singapore money laundering case.
New Future, which has a branch in Singapore, has not been named as part of the money laundering investigation.
The Straits Times visited the registered office address of New Future Holdings, where Su Binghai remains a shareholder. A reporter found another firm there called Straits Alliance, which is a virtual office address provider.
An employee of Straits Alliance said New Future pays them to use the location as its address. The employee said New Future had been a client since January, but they could not provide any contact or information on Su Binghai’s whereabouts.
In an emailed response to questions, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said it has not found evidence so far to suggest the properties acquired by Su Binghai and Xu Haika in the U.K. in 2023 were purchased with criminal proceeds that had originated explicitly from Singapore.
However, a police spokesperson said in an emailed response to questions that it was possible the investigation could stretch to the U.K.
“The SPF will engage our counterparts for assistance where necessary,” the spokesperson said.
