After getting caught for money laundering, a Singaporean man tried explain himself to the Australian police with an unlikely story involving an aunt in Newcastle and an uncle in China.
San Wei Koh has since been sentenced to at least nine months in jail in New South Wales for his offence, with the judge not knowing what to make of his tall story, The Herald reports.
Koh had arrived in Australia in April last year, and didn’t make the declaration if he was carrying over $10,000 in Australian money. Eight days later, he deposited nearly $300,000 in a Star Casino safety deposit box, adding $700,000 in cash the next day.
Noticing Koh’s suspiciously significant cash withdrawals, staff called the police, who found $600,000 in his safety deposit box.
Koh explained himself that the $700,000 deposit he made belonged to her aunt in Newcastle — which were proceeds of a brothel business. This ‘aunt’ had asked him to collect it for her ex-husband living in China. Apparently, the ‘aunt’ wasn’t home when he reached her premises — so he went in through the unlocked back door, found a suitcase in her bedroom and took it.
According to Koh, he found $700,000 in the suitcase, transferred $100,000 to his uncle in China, and left the remainder in the safety deposit box.
Investigations revealed that the ‘uncle’ did not exist, and the Newcastle ‘aunt’ denied being related to Koh.
Koh however did not fabricate a story when it came to providing information that led to the confiscation of $1.59 million in “tainted money”. His information also led to the charging of two other people with money laundering offences.
For assisting the police, Koh got a reduced sentence, and is expected to be deported upon release.
