Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) has sued a suspect involved in Singapore’s biggest money laundering case, marking the first known case of a lender in the city state taking action to recover losses.

Southeast Asia’s second-largest bank filed a claim against Su Baolin, a Cambodian passport holder, last month, seeking about S$19.7 million (US$14.7 million or RM68.88 million) mostly from a residential mortgage, according to legal documents seen by Bloomberg. The hearing date is fixed for Friday. 

Su is among the 10 Chinese-born individuals arrested in the city state in August for offences including money laundering and forgery. He is facing two charges so far, both on forgery. 

OCBC applied for a court order to seize a mortgaged property under construction at Sentosa Cove, a private residential enclave on an island off Singapore’s mainland. Su has also been ordered to repay S$19.5 million in a housing loan, plus interest, and some S$220,570 in credit card debt, according to the suit. 

The lender declined to comment on the lawsuit. An affidavit showed two failed attempts to deliver the suit to Su, as no one had answered the intercom at his mailing address. 

There is no lawyer listed in a court hearing list for Su, who has been held in remand since the Aug 15 arrest. The Singapore police has seized and banned for disposal some S$99 million of assets in properties, cash, bank accounts, and cryptocurrencies in the names of Su and his wife. Contact details for both parties weren’t publicly available. 

More than S$2.8 billion of assets have been frozen or seized by the police since the island-wide raid in August, which include more than 150 properties linked to the 10 individuals arrested. The ongoing scandal sent shockwaves across Singapore, a global financial hub dubbed Switzerland of the East given its attraction among the wealthy.

  - Bloomberg