Wang Shuiming faces charges in China for alleged illegal gambling and has been convicted in Singapore for a major money laundering case.
Recently, Montenegrin authorities stated that the country will extradite a man convicted of one of the largest money laundering cases in Asian history to his homeland, China, where he is wanted for allegedly operating illegal gambling.
A court in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, told the media that Wang Shuiming's appeal against extradition has failed.
Ivana Vukmirović, a spokesperson for the High Court of Podgorica, stated in an email: "The defendant's lawyer appealed the decision, but it was dismissed as unfounded."
In August 2023, Wang Shuiming was arrested in Singapore for participating in a money laundering group that illegally siphoned at least $2.3 billion from illegal gambling and online fraud. He was convicted in May 2024 and deported back to Japan from Singapore the following month.
On January 28, Wang Shuiming arrived in the Montenegrin city of Tivat on a charter flight from the Maldives. Montenegrin authorities said he entered the country with a Vanuatu passport and was arrested due to an international warrant issued by China.
The reason for Wang Shuiming's travel to Montenegro is unclear, but company records show that he registered a real estate company called Bright Sky Limited in the country in December 2024.
The company appears to own no property in Montenegro. Company records indicate that Wang Shuiming has a company in Hong Kong and owns an apartment there worth over $11 million.
Members of the Singapore money laundering group own luxury properties in London and Dubai.
Besides the previously unreported Hong Kong apartment, little is known about Wang Shuiming's investments. His Montenegrin lawyer's name has not been disclosed, making contact impossible.
Singaporean authorities confiscated about $147 million of his assets as proceeds from the group's money laundering.
In addition to Chinese and Vanuatu nationality, Wang Shuiming also holds passports from Turkey and Cambodia.
Wang Shuiming is linked to the mastermind behind the fraud case of a Hong Kong cryptocurrency exchange that collapsed in 2022.
Most defendants in the Singapore money laundering case, including Wang Shuiming, are from Anxi, Fujian. It can even be said that the other defendants might have entered the online gambling and tele-fraud industry because of Wang Shuiming, and were caught together in Singapore for money laundering.
It is understood that Wang Shuiming started his "journey of sin" early on, with a cunning and ruthless style, adept at exploiting people's eagerness to get rich.
In the early 2010s, he set up a comprehensive gambling website in the Philippines, designed to look professional and legitimate, attracting those eager to make quick money.
At the same time, he employed a large number of technicians and customer service staff to monitor the website's operation and respond to victims' inquiries in real time.
Like current online fraud tactics, he would use fake identities to build relationships with victims and manipulate their psychology.
He also manipulated gambling outcomes to ensure his wins. To lower the victims' guard, he usually let them win a small amount of money first, then lured them to increase their bets.
Under Wang Shuiming's control, his online gambling group rapidly expanded, almost monopolizing the online gambling agency business in the Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Myanmar at the time.
At its peak, Wang Shuiming had 7 to 10 online gambling groups under him, earning nicknames like "Ming Da" and "Da Ming Zong."
It is reported that new employees generally started with a salary of 10,000 RMB, which increased to 12,000 RMB after a two-month probation period, with an annual raise of 1,000 RMB. Managerial staff earned monthly salaries of 20,000 to 25,000 RMB, plus share dividends. In other words, Wang Shuiming's gang paid at least 100 million RMB in salaries to 10,000 employees each month.
Insiders say that a group could operate multiple gambling platforms, and about two years ago (from September 2023), a group could collect 5 billion RMB in gambling money from registered gamblers each month. "But the crackdown has been severe these past two years, making it not as profitable as before."
To find a "legal" way for his illegal funds, Wang Shuiming turned his attention to Singapore.
Using his multiple passports, he opened financial accounts in Singapore, attempting to launder huge amounts of money. This further led him down the path of sin.
His masterminded money laundering case in Singapore not only caused a huge impact on Singapore's financial system but also attracted widespread international attention.
A financial planner told Global People reporters that after the incident, to rebuild confidence in the financial market, Singapore strengthened regulations and scrutiny, eliminating some high-net-worth clients of poor quality.
At the end of 2024, the Singapore government issued the "National Anti-Money Laundering Strategy" in response to increasingly complex money laundering activities, comprehensively strengthening anti-money laundering efforts. On the international cooperation front, Singapore actively participated in international organizations such as the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering.
On March 1, 2021, China implemented the Criminal Law Amendment (XI), which revised Article 303 of the Criminal Law, increasing the penalties for operating gambling houses and adding the crime of organizing participation in gambling abroad. Now that Wang Shuiming has been arrested, he will face severe legal penalties once extradited back to China.
