Jail for investment manager who helped criminals convert scam proceeds into cryptocurrency

He had taken instructions from someone he met through social media. Jail for investment manager who helped criminals convert scam proceeds into cryptocurrencySign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inboxOn March 6, Jiang Desheng, 43, pleaded guilty to one count of assisting in transferring benefits from criminal conduct and was sentenced to five months’ jail. PHOTO: ST FILEAndrew WongPublished Mar 06, 2026, 02:10 PMUpdated Mar 06, 2026, 02:10 PMSINGAPORE – Acting on the instructions of someone he had met only on social media, an investment manager helped facilitate the sale of a 1kg gold bar. He collected the gold bar from an unknown individual and sold it to a pawn shop, before exchanging the cash for cryptocurrency. Investigations found that the gold bar had been purchased with proceeds from a scam victim in China. On March 6, Jiang Desheng, 43, pleaded guilty to one count of assisting in transferring benefits from criminal conduct and was sentenced to five months’ jail. Court documents state that the Chinese national got acquainted with an individual known only as Mei Se Hui on social media on Aug 30, 2024.Jiang agreed to help when Mei claimed to have a friend who needed to sell a gold bar in exchange for cryptocurrency in Singapore. On the same day, Mei instructed Jiang to meet another man, who would pass him the gold bar. Jiang collected it at around 6pm, along with a receipt showing that the gold bar had been bought that day for $114,626. On Sept 1, 2024, Jiang sold it to a jeweller at People’s Park Complex in Chinatown for $100,000. Thereafter, he received instructions from Mei to make two transfers of cryptocurrency to a digital wallet belonging to an unknown individual. Jiang then gave his friend $102,000 in cash in exchange for about $96,000 in cryptocurrency, which he transferred to the digital wallet provided by Mei. The court heard that Jiang earned $3,200 for facilitating the transactions. Sometime in Sept 2, 2024, the Singapore Police Force received information that a fraud had been committed in China and part of the proceeds of that scam had been transferred to Singapore. Officers traced part of the proceeds to a 1kg gold bar that had been purchased on Aug 30, 2024. They later established that it was the same gold bar that Jiang had sold on Sept 1, 2024. He was arrested on Sept 10, 2024. Court documents state that the man who handed him the gold bar had left Singapore on Sept 1, 2024. More on this topicGive your bank account and get $1,500: Why 16-year-old became a money mule for scammers Man accused of helping transnational investment scam syndicate targeting S’pore residentsAndrew Wong is a correspondent with The Straits Times’ court and crime desk.See more onInternet crimes and scamsScamsSingapore