SINGAPORE — A man who jumped off a balcony during a raid to arrest suspects related to Singapore's largest money laundering case was convicted and sentenced to 14 months' jail on Thursday (April 4), days after being handed more charges. 

Cypriot national Su Haijin was the second of 10 offenders to be convicted, after the arrests were made during police raids last August. In total, more than S$3 billion in assets have been seized or frozen in relation to the case, likely making it one of the largest money laundering operations in the world.

Su, 41, pleaded guilty to three out of 14 charges. These were for resisting lawful arrest and possessing through a shell company Yihao Cyber Technologies.

The remaining charges will be taken into consideration for his sentencing. These include three charges of helping two women apply for or renew a work pass by making false statements to the controller of work passes.

The court heard that on the day of the raids on Aug 15, a team of police officers arrived at Su's residence at 16 Ewart Park and identified themselves to his eldest son. 

The son later led them to the bedroom, but the door was closed and locked. The son asked Su to come to the door, but Su did not do so. Instead he asked his son who the men with him were. 

The team of officers identified themselves and asked Su to open the door, warning him that they would breach the door to enter. They did so eventually but could not find Su.

Investigations later revealed that Su had jumped from the second-floor balcony to the ground floor. He fractured his feet and injured his wrist, but hobbled to escape the premises. 

He hid in a drain where he was later found and arrested. 

About S$170 million worth of assets consisting of cash, vehicles and luxury items were seized from Su.

Separately, Su was the director and shareholder of Yihao Cyber Technologies, whose business was listed as the development of software. 

Investigations showed that the company did not have legitimate operations in Singapore. Even though it had a registered address in the Marina area, Su only used the address to receive mail. The premises were occupied by another company.

The penalties for resisting arrest are a jail term of up to a year, a fine, or both.

For possessing property reasonably suspected of being the benefits of criminal conduct and failing to account satisfactorily how they came by this property, an offender can be jailed for up to three years, fined up to S$150,000, or both. CNA