Four people, including three Singapore nationals, were tried on
charges of illegal foreign exchange trading of 5.35 billion yuan
(US$700 million) at the Shanghai No. One Intermediate People's
Court on Friday.
The four, Loh Foy Tau, Daniel Mok Kwok Kee and Leekee Yong from
Singapore and Chen Peixiang from Putian City of Fujian Province,
were allegedly involved in bootleg trading of foreign exchange, or
money laundry, in Shanghai and Suzhou cities, east China's Jiangsu
Province, from January, 2004 to April, 2006, according to
prosecutors.
The four, who have connections with the Singaporean exchange
firm Blooming Enterprises, opened 68 personal savings accounts in
11 commercial banks, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of
China, China Construction Bank, and Bank of China, for cross-border
transactions.
About 3 billion yuan (US$390 million) from domestic companies or
individuals were transferred out of the country, while 2.35 billion
yuan (US$310 million) were received by domestic clients.
They were detained by Shanghai police between April and July
last year.
The case is reported to be the biggest money-laundry case in
Shanghai.
The court has not ruled on the case on Friday.
(Xinhua News Agency June 16, 2007)