Four people, including three Singapore nationals, were tried on charges of illegal foreign exchange trading of 5.35 billion yuan (US$700 million) at the Shanghai No. One Intermediate People's Court on Friday.

 

The four, Loh Foy Tau, Daniel Mok Kwok Kee and Leekee Yong from Singapore and Chen Peixiang from Putian City of Fujian Province, were allegedly involved in bootleg trading of foreign exchange, or money laundry, in Shanghai and Suzhou cities, east China's Jiangsu Province, from January, 2004 to April, 2006, according to prosecutors.

 

The four, who have connections with the Singaporean exchange firm Blooming Enterprises, opened 68 personal savings accounts in 11 commercial banks, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Bank of China, for cross-border transactions.

 

About 3 billion yuan (US$390 million) from domestic companies or individuals were transferred out of the country, while 2.35 billion yuan (US$310 million) were received by domestic clients.

 

They were detained by Shanghai police between April and July last year.

 

The case is reported to be the biggest money-laundry case in Shanghai.

 

The court has not ruled on the case on Friday.

 

(Xinhua News Agency June 16, 2007)