Sibei fake grin aside,

US insider trading probe: Singapore firm used to launder illegal proceeds

SINGAPORE – Key members of an insider trading ring linked to transactions that ran into the tens of millions of dollars had moved some of the illegal proceeds through a firm in Singapore, The Straits Times has learnt.

The funds were eventually channelled into a bank account linked to a restaurant in Paris.

Charges were filed on Nov 18 against eight suspects in the network, including Singaporeans Ge Zhi and Dev Ananth Durai.

They are accused of trading on privileged information about the finances and merger plans of several publicly traded firms in the US between 2016 and 2024.

The men, who held meetings in locations from Vienna, the Czech Republic and Paris to Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore, ran a complex operation that included the use of burner phones and code words.

Prosecutors in Boston said the group had recruited investment bankers and corporate insiders, to tap them for confidential information on publicly traded companies. In exchange, the insiders received a share of the profits.

Members of the group then laundered the funds through cash payments, international financial transactions and shell companies.

The group included French national Samy Khouadja, who is said to be the ringleader, and German national Emma Safi, who co-owned a restaurant in Paris with Khouadja.

Court documents showed that Safi and Khouadja, a former banker at Merrill Lynch in France, had recruited Ge into the scheme some time in November 2016.

Ge then travelled to Paris to meet the pair at their restaurant on Nov 19, 2016, and after the lunch meeting, purchased a burner phone and number and started recruiting more traders into the scheme.

US court documents show it was Ge who allegedly recruited individuals to trade on privileged information. He also guided them on when to withdraw their proceeds.

In 2018, Durai was also recruited into the group. Prosecutors said he was trading on inside information by July that year.

Checks by ST showed that some of the illegal proceeds were channelled through Belleby Holding, a firm which Ge incorporated in Singapore in May 2018.

Court documents show Durai wired some €60,000 (S$90,300) – proceeds from insider trading – to Belleby in October 2018. The fund transfers were made on behalf of another suspect, Julien Liu.

According to US prosecutors, Ge controlled the bank account linked to Belleby, which he registered to his residence in Keppel Bay. Ge was a director of the firm until Nov 1, 2025.

The funds were eventually channelled to Safi and Khouadja’s restaurant in Paris.

Checks by ST found that Ge’s wife, a Latvian national, is listed as the current sole director of Belleby. Safi has been a majority shareholder in the firm since May 2022.

The German national is also a shareholder in EA Advisory, a financial services firm located in the Textile Centre and incorporated in March 2017, checks by ST showed. Khouadja, too, is a shareholder of the firm.

Safi is also a shareholder of Tamka Holding, a management consultancy firm in Singapore which shares the same address as EA Advisory.

Safi was arrested in Zurich and handed over to US custody. He pleaded not guilty to his charges including money laundering and securities fraud on Feb 27, 2025.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Khouadja, who is on the run. Liu is also listed as a fugitive.

Charges have been filed against Durai, who remains at large. An arrest warrant has been issued by the District Court of Massachusetts.

ST had earlier reported that Ge was arrested in July 2024 in Singapore, where he has been held under the Extradition Act.

In response to ST, Centurion Law director Favian Kang, who represented Ge in 2024, said he stopped acting for Ge some time in 2024.

A Singapore Police Force (SPF) spokesperson said it is unable to comment on Ge’s extradition case as it is still before the courts.

But the spokesperson confirmed there are no other individuals currently being investigated by the authorities in Singapore in relation to the insider trading case at the moment.

SPF is awaiting “more information from the US authorities to assess whether any offences might have been committed under our laws”, said the spokesperson.

“In the spirit of international cooperation, SPF will continue to render necessary assistance to the US authorities, within the ambit of our laws.”

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/us-insider-trading-probe-singapore-firm-used-to-launder-illegal-proceeds

It's only a blunder when one lives under a totalitarian regime with no free press to speak of.

To properly articulate her ineptness, you need a vast potpourri of labels

GE2025: Stunning victory for PAP, winning 87 of 97 seats with higher national vote share in PM Wong's first electoral test

SINGAPORE: In an election held amid global economic uncertainties, the People’s Action Party (PAP) returned to government in a stunning victory, winning 87 out of 97 seats - or almost 90 per cent of the seats - and staving off challenges from the Workers’ Party (WP) without conceding any new ground to its rivals. 

Against the backdrop of party renewal and leadership transition, Singaporeans at the ballot box on Saturday (May 3) chose political stability and economic safety over the opposition’s calls for greater checks and balances.

In all, 65.57 per cent of the 2,386,452 valid votes cast went to the PAP – up from 61.24 per cent in the 2020 General Election - in what was Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's first electoral test leading the ruling party.  

In leading the PAP to an increased vote share, Mr Wong bucked a trend: Previous GEs in 1991 and 2006 saw dips in the PAP's vote share after a new prime minister took office. 

The ruling party also garnered over 75 per cent of the vote in 10 constituencies. The best performing PAP constituency was Queenstown Single Member Constituency (SMC), where Mr Eric Chua won 81.12 per cent of the votes. 

The last result - for Tampines GRC - of the elections was announced close to six hours after the polls closed - at nearly 2am on Sunday.  Speaking at the PAP’s post-election press conference held about an hour later, Mr Wong said that Singaporeans have given the party “a clear and strong mandate to govern”.

Reiterating that the bigger contest is not between political parties but between Singapore and the challenges it faces, Mr Wong noted that the election took place at a critical time for Singapore, as the world faces an economic slowdown as well as fundamental shifts in the international order.

“The results will put Singapore in a better position to face this turbulent world ... It's a clear signal of trust, stability and confidence in your government,” said Mr Wong. "Singaporeans, too, can draw strength from this and look ahead to our future with confidence."

He added that he was "deeply humbled and grateful" for the results, and that the PAP will work even harder with this mandate to ensure concrete progress for Singapore.

Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who handed over power to Mr Wong in August last year, said on Facebook that he was "very happy and relieved with the results of GE2025". 

"This election took place at a crucial time – in the world, and in Singapore. It was vital that PM Lawrence Wong won a good mandate in this election, to show Singaporeans, and show the world, that he has the full support of a united nation. This election result achieves that," he said. 

The 4.33 percentage point swing towards the PAP meant that WP’s much vaunted push in eastern Singapore – Punggol, Tampines and East Coast Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs), as well as the single-member wards of Tampines Changkat and Jalan Kayu – failed to translate to seats.

In the four-member Tampines GRC, where WP fielded its party vice-chair Faisal Manap against PAP’s Social and Family Development Minister Masagos Zulkifli, the PAP came up on top, securing 52.02 per cent of votes.

In the hot seat of Jalan Kayu SMC, where former PAP Cabinet minister and labour chief Ng Chee Meng was pitted against WP new face Andre Low, it was ultimately Mr Ng who triumphed with 51.47 per cent of votes.

Over at Punggol GRC, where WP had focused its attacks on the PAP’s last-minute move to field Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong there, the opposition party's team led by senior counsel Harpreet Singh only managed to garner 44.83 per cent of the votes.

PAP STAVES OFF WP CHALLENGE 

Nevertheless, WP managed to retain its 10 parliamentary seats from Aljunied and Sengkang GRCs, as well as its stronghold of Hougang SMC. While it failed to make further inroads, WP was able to either match or improve its margins of victory in these three constituencies.

The opposition party will also be offered two Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) seats. Under the NCMP scheme, if there are fewer than 12 opposition MPs elected, the best-performing losing opposition candidates are offered NCMP seats to make up the shortfall.

The two NCMP seats will be offered to WP's Jalan Kayu SMC candidate Andre Low and a member of WP's Tampines GRC team. 

This would grow the WP’s overall parliamentary presence to 12 seats – the largest in its history – should the party accept the NCMP roles. 

For the constituencies it contested in, WP garnered a vote share of 50.04 per cent, a slight 0.45 percentage point drop from the previous election. 

At WP’s assembly point at Serangoon Stadium, WP chief Pritam Singh thanked supporters for helping to achieve a more balanced parliament and urged them to continue the work. “It was always going to be a difficult election. The slate is wiped clean, we start work again tomorrow, and we go again,” Mr Singh said.

HOW OTHER OPPOSITION PARTIES FARED 

It was a dismal night for the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) as the election results streamed in – the party lost in all of its contests and also its two NCMP seats from the previous polls.

In West Coast-Jurong West GRC, the party fielded a team of heavyweights consisting of founder Tan Cheng Bock, party chief Leong Mun Wai and vice-chair Hazel Poa, but the result ultimately went in the favour of the PAP team led by National Development Minister Desmond Lee, which got 60.01 per cent against PSP’s 39.99 per cent.

PSP’s other attempts in Chua Chu Kang GRC and the single-member wards of Bukit Gombak, Kebun Baru, Marymount and Pioneer performed worse, garnering less than 35 per cent of the vote in these wards.

Speaking to reporters outside PSP’s headquarters in Bukit Timah Shopping Centre, Mr Leong thanked voters who had supported the party and accepted the results.

“The results are very shocking to us, but the people have spoken,” he said, adding that the party will study the results "seriously and humbly" and reconsider how it can gain further trust from Singaporeans.

“We need to regroup ourselves so that we can fight another day.” 

The Singapore Democratic Party, which embarked on a “northern strategy” by contesting Sembawang GRC and Sembawang West SMC, did not yield the results that party chief Chee Soon Juan had hoped for.

“Obviously, it’s really upsetting,” Dr Chee told reporters. “Across the board, with what happened in Bukit Panjang and our constituencies and the rest of the opposition as well, it’s quite a surprise.”

With WP winning 10 seats, Dr Chee was on track to be offered one of the NCMP seats - in what would have been his first entry into parliament after 33 years of politics - until the last result for Tampines GRC was announced at close to 2am. 

For Dr Chee, the 46.81 per cent he got in Sembawang West SMC against PAP’s Poh Li San would not qualify him for an NCMP seat as the WP performed better in Tampines GRC (47.37 per cent) and Jalan Kayu SMC (48.53 per cent).

SDP chair Paul Tambyah also lost his contest in Bukit Panjang SMC, with 38.59 per cent of the vote against PAP stalwart Liang Eng Hwa.

The May 3 poll returned the PAP to power with a super majority. Not all seats were contested, with the five-member Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC being declared a walkover on Nomination Day. 

A total of 2,429,281 votes, including rejected votes, were cast in the country’s 14th election since independence. 

This made up 92.47 per cent of the 2,627,026 registered electors in all contested divisions – a record low voter turnout. The previous record was in the 2011 General Election, in which 93.06 per cent of voters turned up to cast their ballot.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/ge2025-pap-secures-victory-seats-opposition-challenge-5107201

Confirm + chop tio swept under the carpet liao 🧹🧹🧹

I won't be surprised if the G covertly "massaged" the numbers, because remember, as far as PAP is concerned,

Dude inhaled one too many anuses whilst working as an asshole doctor and never fully recovered from his delirium since, which would explain why he's always spewing inane, foul-smelling garbage

Tin Tin wishes everyone an awesome 龙 (long) weekend and a prosperous lunar new year...

Aiyah, Emperor Loong probably decreed that all jiak liao bee MPs from the ruling party must show their faces to wayang gao gao mah, else imagine how embarrassing it would be if the Mudland King's presence was graced with the usual utter emptiness

LTA has just unequivocally demonstrated how fucking inefficient it really is under the hood. Cheers!

I was thinking the exact same thing lol

Scam alert lol

The reason is very simple.

Aiseh Zaidy Nurul is so considerate😁

Halimah gets properly ridiculed by Chee Soon Juan ☝️

Big fat caveat alert: IF all goes well ;)

I could swear some of my hair turned white just by watching him speak

Hahahahaha talk about being completely insensitive and irrelevant😝

Singapore political drama exposes frailty of Lee's succession plan

SINGAPORE -- The ruling People's Action Party of Singapore is walking on thin ice in light of a series of political controversies involving high-profile politicians who were expected to have played a big role in the country's next chapter of leadership.

From a graft probe on a cabinet minister to the resignation of a senior official over an extramarital affair, the rare political drama highlights the challenges Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong faces in executing his carefully tailored succession plan.

On Wednesday, the city-state's Parliament convened for the first time since the political incidents surfaced, prompting Lee to explain the issues.

"Such incidents involving ministers are rare, and there is no rule or precedent on how to effect an interdiction on a political office holder," Lee told Parliament, referring to the case of Transport Minister S. Iswaran, who was arrested by the country's anti-corruption agency on July 11.

Lee said Iswaran, who was later released on bail, has been suspended from duties, and his monthly pay was cut to 8,500 Singapore dollars ($6,300) until further notice, well below the benchmark level of a minister's monthly salary of SG$55,000.

The anti-corruption agency has not disclosed the nature of the investigation and has not charged or convicted Iswaran. Lee said that investigations were "still ongoing" and that he was unable to provide more details on the case "so as not to prejudice the investigations in any way."

Shortly after Iswaran's arrest, Tan Chuan-Jin, a former cabinet member once touted as an up-and-coming member of the next generation of leaders, stepped down as speaker of Parliament and left the PAP over an affair with another party member.

Lee said on Wednesday that in hindsight, after learning of the affair between the two PAP members in November 2020, he should have "forced the issue sooner." He added that he had "placed much weight on protecting their families, perhaps too much."

The party's unbroken rule over nearly six decades has been largely credited to its track record of the country's development and its clean image. But as the economy slows, coupled with other challenges, including an aging population and geopolitical tensions, the party's foundations have grown weaker, and the collapse of its clean image would be a blow to its administration.

"Singaporeans don't feel that they are going forward economically or socially and haven't done [so] for a decade or more," said Michael Barr, an associate professor at Australia's Flinders University. "The image of good, stable and effective government overseen by good people is now in serious doubt."

"One immediate political impact is that the government's preparations for a very early general election have undoubtedly died in a ditch," Barr told Nikkei Asia, adding that the current Parliament could run its full five-year term until late 2025.

As the PAP holds nearly 90% of the seats, a change of government is highly unlikely in the next general election. But in the last election in 2020, the opposition won a record 10 seats, reflecting voters' declining confidence in the ruling party.

The following general election is particularly crucial for the PAP, as it is expected to coincide with a carefully tailored succession project by Lee, who has been the country's third prime minister since 2004. Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong is expected to succeed Lee as prime minister as the leader of the PAP's "fourth-generation" or "4G" team.

Meredith Weiss, a professor of political science at the State University of New York in Albany, said Lee has sought to boost confidence in the ascendant 4G leadership over the years. But "none of these incidents can help" the succession plan.

"Were the 4G leaders more overtly different from Lee et al., or were their ascent more organic -- driven less through opaque party mechanisms than via popular mandate -- the new guard might be able to make a case for renewal and change," Weiss said. "But indeed, it is the very promise of reliable continuity that sustains the PAP's still-strong mandate."

Chong Ja Ian, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore, said the timing of the succession will depend on how Lee and the next generation of leaders handle the political setbacks.

"Should the fourth-generation leader under Wong demonstrate initiative and decisiveness in ownership," Chong said, "and putting forward a reform plan that addresses the underlying issues leading to the challenges that have come up, there could be greater confidence in their leadership."

"That could pave the way for the fourth-generation leaders to take over," he added.

In a BBC interview last week, Wong said the recent incidents are "a setback" for the ruling party and the government. "I have no doubt that we will reflect, learn from these experiences, make our system better and continue to uphold the trust that Singaporeans have in the elected government and in our system of government," he said.

"The PAP has taken a hit" over the issue, Lee said in Parliament on Wednesday. He tried to reassure that the PAP, including the future leaders, will handle the matter in accordance with the law even if it may be "politically embarrassing and painful to the party."

"This is my approach, and I'm confident it will be my successor's approach, too," Lee said. "And this is how we will keep Singapore safe, strong and prosperous for many years to come."

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Singapore-political-drama-exposes-frailty-of-Lee-s-succession-plan