By Jun Wang, Vision Times
On Nov. 7, the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) announced that it had seized dinosaur fossils, luxury apartments, and valuable artworks worth tens of millions of pounds from a Chinese businessman connected to Singapore’s record-breaking $2 billion money-laundering investigation.
According to an NCA statement, Binghai Su, a 37-year-old Chinese national residing in the U.K., was linked to the vast laundering network uncovered in Singapore between 2023 and 2024. The operation, involving more than 400 police officers, led to simultaneous raids across Singapore on Aug. 15, 2023, recovering over US$2 billion in suspected criminal proceeds. Though Su was named in relation to the case, Singaporean authorities did not formally charge him.
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Confiscated fossils
In April 2025, the High Court in London issued both an Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO) and a Freezing Order against Su’s UK-based holdings. Su did not respond to the UWO but sought through his lawyers to challenge the measures. His appeal was heard on Nov. 5.
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That same day, the NCA confirmed it had reached a settlement with Su and his company, Su Empire Limited, resulting in the forfeiture of assets valued at more than £20 million, deemed to be the proceeds of crime. Among the confiscated items were three dinosaur fossil skeletons — two Allosaurus specimens (one adult and one juvenile) and one Stegosaurus — purchased for roughly £12.4 million at a December 2024 auction.
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Su was also forced to give up nine luxury apartments in London, bought in 2024 for approximately £15.7 million, along with eleven pieces of Chinese artwork worth more than £400,000, acquired through a 2022 auction.
Court orders
Under the terms of the settlement, the NCA will sell the assets and retain 75 percent of the proceeds, while Su will receive the remaining 25 percent. He will also surrender roughly £340,000 in rental income generated from the London properties. UK authorities estimate the government’s total recovery will amount to between £20 million and £21 million.
Meanwhile, Rob Burgess, head of the NCA’s Asset Denial Department, said that while seizing dinosaur fossils is an unusual measure, the case demonstrates the broad power of British law enforcement to trace and confiscate illicit wealth.
The Proceeds of Crime Act, he noted, allows authorities to reclaim assets “in any form — whether cash, property, or prehistoric bones.” The ultimate goal, he said, “is to ensure that no one profits from criminal activity.”
