Another gang

The Hongli gang is not the only foreign syndicate linked to investigations in Singapore. The police are also exploring the connection between some of the 10 arrested here and the Heng Bo Bao Wang group.

One of those arrested here, Vang Shuiming, 42, is said to be a known associate of the syndicate. Vang currently faces one forgery charge and four money laundering charges in Singapore.

The police said the Turkish national, who is also known as Wang Shuiming, had communicated with a Suspect X, who is no longer in Singapore, about illegal activities.

The police did not identify Suspect X, but said he is wanted in connection to the ongoing probe, and in China for online gambling activities.

The Heng Bo Bao Wang gambling syndicate was busted in May 2022, in an operation that saw Shandong police arrest 131 people and seize more than 10 million yuan (S$1.87 million) in assets.

The group, which had a base in Cambodia, had developed and maintained several online casinos, and either provided the services directly or leased the gambling services out to others to run.

Vang’s brother, Wang Shuiting, is among nine members of the Heng Bo Bao Wang gang who are on the run from the authorities in China. The brothers have Cambodian citizenship.

In an Aug 15 notice, the police in China urged the nine to return to the country, saying that if they did so voluntarily before Oct 10, 2023, they may be granted leniency.

The others on the list of wanted people allegedly include Vang, who the Singapore police said is closely associated with two of the 10 accused – Su Haijin and Su Baolin.

Online gambling in China grew at an astonishing rate amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2021, the country’s Ministry of Public Security said the police probed more than 17,000 cases of cross-border gambling and arrested over 80,000 suspects in cases that involved more than one trillion yuan in illegal transactions.

It also smashed more than 2,200 online gambling platforms, 1,600 illegal payment platforms and underground banks, and 1,500 gambling promotion platforms that same year.