The UK National Crime Agency froze 16 London properties valued at $33 million belonging to Singapore fugitive Xu Haika, linked to the city-state's S$3 billion money laundering case. Xu has no UK bank accounts or salary to support the purchases, according to the NCA, following his flight from Singapore.
Land registry records obtained by Transparency International UK and shared with the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project showed the NCA lodged the freezing orders on June 5, 2026. The portfolio comprises 16 luxury apartments in two adjoining new-build developments in central London, near Tottenham Court Road and just off Oxford Street. Xu Haika, a Chinese, Cambodian and Vanuatu national, bought them between July and August 2023 through two UK companies of which he was the sole shareholder — companies registered by a London accountancy firm.
The freeze was granted under civil recovery legislation, which allows British law enforcement to target property suspected of being derived from unlawful conduct even where no criminal charge has been laid. Xu Haika has not been criminally charged in the UK. The purchases were made at almost exactly the moment Singapore police were moving against the network: on August 15, 2023, officers raided multiple locations, arresting 10 people and seizing assets ultimately valued at around S$3 billion — the largest money laundering case in Singapore's history, with proceeds traced to illegal gambling and cyber scam operations. Xu Haika fled the country as the raids unfolded and has been named a suspect by Singapore authorities.
The case highlights the international reach of the investigation. OCCRP had first reported on Xu Haika's London property portfolio in November 2025. Neither Xu Haika nor the accountancy firm that registered his two UK companies responded to questions about the properties or his links to the Singapore criminal case. Back in Singapore, authorities have spent years working through the seized assets — auctioning off luxury properties, cars and goods, with appointed liquidators organising sales stretching into 2027. The UK action also follows earlier NCA moves against associates of the fugitives.
What happens next is now partly in British courts. Under civil recovery, the NCA can ultimately seek forfeiture of the properties if it can show they derive from unlawful conduct — a lower bar than a criminal conviction, but still a contested legal process. For Singapore, the freeze is a signal that the city-state's biggest money laundering probe continues to generate cross-border enforcement nearly three years after the raids. Xu Haika himself remains at large.