MalayMail/StraitsTimes-Dec 31
A 58-year-old Singaporean man at the center of a Malaysia-based drug syndicate has been handed a 28-year, nine-month jail sentence in what prosecutors have described as Singapore’s largest money laundering case tied to drug trafficking, Straits Times reported yesterday. Lian Hoe Heng, described by Judicial Commissioner Christopher Tan as a “central piece of the drug enterprise,” coordinated the supply of narcotics into Singapore and laundered over S$1.27 million (RM4.17 million) in drug proceeds. Prosecutors revealed that Lian laundered approximately S$203,000 of his own criminal proceeds and over S$1.07 million belonging to a syndicate member known as “Kadi.” Lian pleaded guilty to five charges, including one for drug trafficking and four for money laundering. An additional 18 charges were taken into consideration.
According to the facts of the case, Lian admitted instigating another Singaporean, Tan Guosheng, to possess 249.99g of methamphetamine for trafficking — just shy of the 250g threshold that would have triggered the death penalty. Tan, 30, was both a customer of the syndicate and an operative who helped Lian collect and distribute drugs. His case remains pending in court.
Between 2020 and his arrest in 2023, Lian operated as a key figure in the syndicate, receiving orders for drugs like methamphetamine, ketamine, cannabis, and MDMA, commonly known as Ecstasy. He would relay these orders to Kadi, who arranged for their delivery to various locations in Singapore.
Lian was compensated with methamphetamine or a few hundred dollars per order. He also directed customers to transfer payments to bank accounts in Singapore and Malaysia, retaining a portion of the funds as remuneration.
Lian laundered proceeds through his accounts, his girlfriend’s account in Vietnam, and via third parties, including one identified only as “Lao Ban Niang.”
Singapore’s Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) uncovered Lian’s role following Tan’s arrest in October 2020. Officers had intercepted Tan with crystal methamphetamine at his rented home in Kembangan. Lian fled to Malaysia in 2018, living in Johor Baru while working under Kadi’s instructions. He was arrested by the Royal Malaysia Police in March 2023 and repatriated to Singapore the following month. Read more at:
