A Georgetown Magistrate has thrown out a series of money laundering charges against Chinese national Ying XingSu, ruling that the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) failed to produce any evidence to support the allegations and questioning why the charges were ever brought in the first place.
Magistrate Annette Singh this week upheld no-case submissions made on behalf of XingSu, finding that the prosecution had failed to establish any of the essential elements required to sustain the offences. XingSu was discharged of all charges. In delivering her ruling, the Magistrate went further, expressing concern over the very basis of the prosecution and indicating that she did not understand why SOCU had instituted the charges at all.
XingSu, a travel agent, had faced multiple counts of money laundering stemming from what SOCU described as an eight-month investigation into alleged financial crimes involving vehicles, large cash transactions, and property acquisitions. The allegations included the acquisition and possession of several motor vehicles among them a Land Rover Freelander, an Audi Q5, and a Hino Dutro truck — said to have been derived from proceeds of crime. She was also accused of using substantial sums, including $8.25 million, $2.2 million, and $50 million, as partial payments toward properties at Golden Grove and Plantation Grove on the East Bank Demerara, and at the Young Professional Scheme at La Bonne Intention on the East Coast Demerara.
XingSu had previously appeared before acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts and Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman at the Diamond/Grove Magistrate’s Court, where she was granted bail totalling $1.7 million with conditions that included monthly reporting to SOCU.
The case is not XingSu’s only brush with law enforcement. SOCU disclosed that she had previously faced a separate charge relating to the unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, following a search of her room at the Ramada Princess International Hotel in Providence in July 2024, during which officers reportedly discovered cash equivalent to $52 million alongside the illegal items.
