Alleged Hong Kong Crypto Swindler Tied to Singapore Money Laundering Syndicate

A Chinese national accused of stealing millions from investors after the collapse of a cryptocurrency exchange also owned companies with businessmen linked to major money laundering investigations in Southeast Asia — including one who has been convicted, and another suspect on the run.

Hong Kong police have called Su Weiyi the “mastermind” behind Atom Asset Exchange (AAX), which had more than two million users before collapsing in 2022. Su Weiyi allegedly absconded with investors’ money, but returned to Hong Kong where he was arrested on July 18 and charged with theft.

The charges have not been proven in court and his case is ongoing.

Police have not publicly linked Su Weiyi to any of the online scam and money laundering operations that have exploded across Southeast Asia in recent years.

However, corporate documents show that Su Weiyi was running AAX at the same time he co-owned companies with two men who are part of an investigation by Singapore police into a massive money laundering syndicate.

Su Weiyi is also listed as an owner of two Hong Kong companies along with a man named Wang Dingkai. Wang Dingkai co-founded a firm in the Philippines, which was raided by police in 2023 as part of an ongoing investigation into cryptocurrency investment scams, and human trafficking.

The Hong Kong firms that include Wang Dingkai and Su Weiyi as owners appear to have been part of the ownership structure behind the AAX cryptocurrency exchange. Hong Kong police reportedly arrested another co-owner of the companies in 2022, in relation to the AAX fraud.

Such overlapping relationships between people and companies involved in both legitimate and illicit business are increasingly common in the region, according to Benedikt Hoffmann, deputy representative for Southeast Asia at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

“The case is a great example of the complex networks and linkages which are more and more at the core of Southeast Asia’s rapidly expanding organized crime environment,” he said, referring to OCCRP’s findings.

A recent report by UNODC also noted a “significant surge in the use of cryptocurrencies” to launder illicit cash in Southeast Asia.

There is no evidence that AAX was used to launder criminal funds, either intentionally or inadvertently. But the corporate connections between Su Weiyi and money laundering suspects raise questions about whether illicit profits could have entered the AAX crypto platform, experts say.

“It appears to be no coincidence that such a small circle of people could be so interconnected,” said anti-money laundering expert Eryn Schornick, adding that the shared companies could signal “a mix of legitimate and illicit business interests.”

Hong Kong media have reported that Su Weiyi was charged with theft of at least $2.15 million of digital currencies and tokens, representing the assets of about 51 AAX users. Police did not reply to a request for more information on the case.

The charges against Su Weiyi relate only to a fraction of the exchange’s more than two million customers, according to a legal petition from the AAX bankruptcy case, which is unfolding in the Cayman Islands where the exchange’s parent company was registered.

The petition alleges that Su Weiyi “absconded with the keys to digital wallets holding AAX user assets” worth a minimum of $30 million.

The Cayman Islands company behind AAX, Atom Holdings, is being liquidated and Quantuma Advisory Limited now controls its assets and communications. Quantuma Advisory did not reply to requests for comment on AAX’s corporate links to money laundering suspects.

The Fujian Connection

Two of the men linked to Su Weiyi in corporate documents — Wang Shuiming and Wang Bingang — were investigated by Singapore police, who say their group was laundering billions in profits from “organised crime activities including scams and online gambling.”

Singaporean authorities seized assets and cash worth $2.3 billion from 10 people arrested last year. Wang Shuiming has since been sentenced to 14 months in prison. The Straits Times reported that Wang Bingang is wanted by police for his alleged involvement in the group.

Corporate documents show that Su Weiyi is associated with Wang Shuiming and Wang Bingang through two financial and technology firms. The men share geographic ties as well: all three hail from Fujian province on China’s southeastern coast.

The business relationship between Wang Shuiming and Su Weiyi goes back to at least 2010. That’s the year they incorporated Xiamen Mingxin Danbao Co Ltd, which is described in Chinese company registries as a credit and financing firm.

The money laundering case against Wang Shuiming shows that he submitted forged financial statements from that firm to banks as proof of his wealth, according to Lianhe Zaobao, Singapore’s most widely read Chinese language newspaper.

Like Wang Shuiming, Su Weiyi was a joint shareholder and director of Xiamen Mingxin Danbao. The company was active during the first two years of AAX’s operations, and was deregistered in 2021.

Wang Shuiming and Su Weiyi were also involved in a Taiwanese company, Zongwang Digital Technology Co Ltd. Su Weiyi is the 100 percent controlling shareholder, while Wang Shuiming was a manager in 2021 and 2022, the final two years of AAX’s operations.

Wang Bingang — the suspect on the run from Singapore police — was a director in Zongwang Digital. His whereabouts are unknown, and email addresses he listed on Chinese corporate documents did not work when reporters sent questions.

Wang Shuiming’s lawyer did not respond to requests for comment, while reporters were unable to contact Su Weiyi. His lawyer’s name has not been made public, and does not appear in the files from AAX’s bankruptcy case that were acquired by reporters.

‘Likely not a coincidence’

Corporate registry documents in Hong Kong reveal an intriguing business relationship between Su Weiyi and two other Fujian natives: Wang Dingkai and Su Jinkun.

Wang Dingkai co-founded the Sun Valley Clark Hub Corporation, where police rescued more than 1,000 human trafficking victims in 2023, according to the Philippines Department of Justice.

“The victims were recruited as call center agents to entice foreign customers from the United States, Canada and Europe to invest in cryptocurrency,” the Department of Justice said in a press release at the time, adding that “the victims, mostly male, were instructed to pretend to be attractive women.”

Wang Dingkai has not been named as a suspect in the Philippines case. The Department of Justice did not respond to questions about Wang Dingkai from OCCRP’s media partner, Rappler.

In addition to his business in the Philippines, Wang Dingkai appears to have played a role in AAX, along with Su Jinkun, according to Hong Kong company documents.

Su Jinkun and Wang Dingkai are part owners of two Hong Kong companies with Su Weiyi, the AAX mastermind. The companies are Vico Group Limited and Vico Capital Limited. Both remain active today and were in operation during AAX’s 2019 to 2022 run.

Su Weiyi also owned a BVI firm named Vico Capital Limited. The BVI-registered Vico Capital was the owner of 84 percent of Atom Holdings, which controlled the AAX exchange.

The shared names and owners of the Hong Kong and BVI firms strongly suggest they are part of the same corporate network, said Schornick, the anti-money laundering expert.

“It’s likely not a coincidence in circumstances like this that one person is involved in two companies with the same name in two different jurisdictions,” she said.

Another link between AAX and the Hong Kong version of Vico Capital emerged during the 2022 police operation targeting the fallen cryptocurrency exchange. Hong Kong police arrested Leung Ho Ming, the fourth co-owner of Vico Capital. Leung Ho Ming is also named in the Cayman Islands bankruptcy case as a “top AAX executive”.

Leung Ho Ming was later released. His whereabouts are unknown, and it is not clear if he has charges against him or not. Hong Kong police did not respond to a request for comment about his case.

As well as revealing his connection to Su Weiyi, company registration documents place Su Jinkun in close proximity to suspects in the Singapore money laundering case.

In one document, Su Jinkun lists his Hong Kong address in the same luxury residential complex as one of the key suspects in the Singapore case.

Leaked property data from the United Arab Emirates also reveals Su Jinkun’s ownership of 23 apartments in The Grand at Dubai Creek Harbor, which are worth about $13 million combined. Some accused members of the Singapore syndicate bought entire floors in that building, OCCRP has reported.

Su Jinkun and Wang Dingkai did not reply to questions sent to email addresses found in Hong Kong and Cambodia company documents, and in Dubai property records.

The corporate connections between Su Weiyi and the three men linked to money laundering investigations — Wang Dingkai, Wang Shuiming and Wang Bingang — do not provide evidence of criminal involvement in AAX.

But Nick Smart, a director at the blockchain analysis firm Crystal Intelligence, said the corporate ties underscore growing concerns about the use of cryptocurrencies by organized crime groups.

Alleged fraud “such as that we have seen with AAX,” he said, “may be used as a front for more serious criminal activity.”

Article Credit: https://www.occrp.org/en/scoop/alleged-hong-kong-crypto-swindler-tied-to-singapore-money-laundering-syndicate