Singapore Is Auctioning 624 Luxury Items From the 2.37 Billion USD Money Laundering Case — and USDT Records Explain Why

Singapore has opened online bidding for the first 624 luxury items forfeited in its SGD 3 billion (roughly 2.37 billion USD) money laundering case, giving global buyers a chance to bid on handbags, jewellery and watches once tied to one of the city-state’s largest financial crime investigations.

The first two auctions, run by Singapore auction house Hotlotz, contain 338 handbags and accessories and 286 pieces of jewellery, with a combined pre-sale estimate of SGD 2.9 million to SGD 3.9 million — about 2.29 million to 3.08 million USD. Bidding for both sales began on September 7, with the handbag sale closing on September 20 and the jewellery sale closing on September 27.

Hotlotz was appointed by Deloitte Singapore to sell the forfeited luxury goods through a series of 15 auctions running from September 2026 to May 2027. For an audience that follows crypto enforcement, the case matters because court records and police findings have repeatedly linked people in the investigation to USDT transactions and illegal gambling proceeds — a reminder of how stablecoin flows became central evidence in one of Asia’s biggest laundering prosecutions.

## What is on the block

The catalogues read like a confiscation inventory from a wealth-management fever dream. Among the 338 handbag and accessory lots is a limited-edition Louis Vuitton bag made with artist Yayoi Kusama — the yellow-and-black pumpkin design carries an estimate of SGD 12,000 to SGD 16,000. The auction also lists a customised Louis Vuitton jewellery trunk, Dior bags and several Chanel pieces.

The 286 jewellery lots include a 15.02-carat yellow diamond ring estimated at SGD 200,000 to SGD 300,000, a Hermes diamond bracelet at SGD 150,000 to SGD 200,000, and a Bulgari emerald-and-diamond necklace at SGD 60,000 to SGD 80,000. Hotlotz notes these figures are pre-sale estimates for individual lots, not final prices.

Later auctions in the series are scheduled to include Hermes handbags and watches from Patek Philippe, Richard Mille and Rolex, with catalogues to be released closer to their bidding dates.

## How the auctions work — and who can bid

The sales are open to participants globally, with buyers outside Singapore able to access the catalogues and bid online. Each bidder must register separately for each sale and complete an identity check — a notable detail given the provenance of the goods. Hotlotz does not accept bids in person, by telephone, or through an agent acting on a bidder’s instructions.

Registered participants can inspect the items at Le Freeport in the Changi North area before bidding closes, but only with a confirmed appointment. Viewing slots are limited and allocated first-come, first-served; walk-ins are not allowed. Handbags and accessories will be on view from September 14 to 19, with jewellery viewable over the same dates and again from September 21 to 26.

## From 2023 raids to the auction block

The sales trace back to Singapore’s August 2023 raids against a group suspected of moving overseas criminal proceeds through the country. Police initially arrested 10 foreign nationals and identified about SGD 1 billion in assets that had been seized, frozen or placed under disposal restrictions — including properties, vehicles, bank accounts and documents linked to cryptocurrency accounts.

The value tied to the investigation later climbed past SGD 3 billion. In a November 2024 account of the forfeitures, the Singapore Police Force said all 10 people arrested in the raids had been convicted and sentenced to prison terms of 13 to 17 months. About SGD 944 million in assets linked to them was surrendered to the state, and 15 of another 17 people connected to the probe agreed to surrender roughly SGD 1.85 billion in assets under court orders.

Proceeds from the auctions and forfeited cash go into Singapore’s consolidated fund.

## The USDT connection

The investigation was never purely a crypto case, but official records describe in detail how Tether’s USDT moved through it. In a 2025 account of a banker’s conviction, Singapore police said former Citibank relationship manager Wang Qiming helped convicted offender Su Baolin arrange the sale of USDT for Singapore dollars in December 2020. A first tranche of 499,980 USDT produced SGD 657,980 deposited into Su’s bank account; a second tranche of 364,908 USDT was sold for SGD 481,678 in cash, which Wang collected on Su’s behalf.

Wang was sentenced to 24 months in prison after being convicted of offences including forgery and money laundering, with police saying the cash was reasonably suspected of representing benefits from unlawful remote gambling.

Su Baolin separately received a 14-month sentence in 2024. Court records showed he pleaded guilty to charges involving suspected criminal proceeds, including possession of SGD 777,220.50 in cash and a Toyota Alphard bought for SGD 332,281.26. Investigators found that gambling winnings had been sent to his cryptocurrency wallet in USDT, and that he had earned roughly 4 million USDT from operating or supervising illegal gambling websites overseas.

A separate crypto thread involves Su Weiyi, who shared business interests with convicted offender Wang Shuiming. The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project found through corporate records that the two had been involved in companies together. Hong Kong authorities accused Su Weiyi of theft following the collapse of crypto exchange Atom Asset Exchange, though OCCRP noted he was not implicated in Singapore’s laundering investigation and has contested the Hong Kong charges.

## Why crypto readers should care

The auction is the public-facing endgame of an enforcement arc that began with on-chain tracing and ended with convictions, forfeitures and now liquidation of physical assets. For an industry still arguing about whether stablecoins enable or expose crime, the Singapore case cuts both ways: USDT was the rail that moved suspected gambling proceeds, and the blockchain record left behind became evidence that helped convict the people who moved it.

For context, Bitcoin traded around 77,300 USD and Ethereum near 2,540 USD at the time of writing.

Hotlotz’s published terms offer the practical takeaway for international bidders: overseas participants can register, subject to the same identity checks and online-only bidding process as Singapore-based buyers. In a case built on anonymous flows of tainted money, the resale process is anything but anonymous — every bidder will be identified before a single lot is won.