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SINGAPORE: Health Minister Ong Ye Kung and Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat do not know convicted money launderer Su Haijin personally and have no dealings with him, their press secretaries said on Tuesday (May 6).
They were responding to media queries after pictures of the ministers with Su were posted online by former Reform Party chairman Charles Yeo. Su was one of the 10 people convicted in the billion-dollar money laundering case last year.
“There are some photos circulating, in which Ministers Ong Ye Kung and Chee Hong Tat were pictured at dinners where Fujian gang member Su Haijin was also present,” the ministers' press secretaries said in a joint statement.
“As ministers, they meet a diverse range of people at various events and gatherings.
“They attended the dinners at the invitation of a friend, and Su happened to be there. Minister Ong recalls that months later, at another dinner, Su happened to be there too.”
They said the ministers do not know Su personally and have had no contact or dealings with him, before or since these occasions.
Labour chief Ng Chee Meng, who was recently elected as Member of Parliament for Jalan Kayu SMC, has also been photographed with Su.
The photo has not been verified. CNA has contacted Mr Ng for comment.
NTUC secretary-general Ng Chee Meng pictured with Fujian gang member Su Haijin. (Photo: Instagram/toxicstatenarrativeinsg)
Su, a Cypriot national, was sentenced to 14 months' jail in April last year.
He was the man who jumped off a balcony during a raid in August 2023 to arrest suspects linked to Singapore's largest money laundering case.
In total, more than S$3 billion (US$2.2 billion) in assets have been seized or frozen in relation to the case.
“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,” said the ministers' press secretaries.
“Maintaining this standard is non-negotiable.”
The 10 people arrested were reportedly part of the Fujian gang, an organised crime syndicate based in Fujian, China.
Fugitive lawyer and former Reform Party chairman Yeo fled Singapore after criminal charges were filed against him in August 2022.
He is currently out on bail in the UK, where he faces an extradition hearing after Singapore requested that he be sent back.
