The NCA has reached a settlement with a Chinese national to recover assets worth more than £20m, including three dinosaur fossils and London property, deemed to represent the proceeds of crime.
Binghai Su, 37, is a Chinese national currently residing in the UK who was linked to a money laundering investigation in Singapore in 2023-2024. The investigation was Singapore’s largest ever money laundering case which culminated in simultaneous raids by over 400 police officers on 15 August 2023 and recovered more than $2bn in criminal assets. Binghai Su was never charged in relation to the Singapore investigation.
In April 2025, the NCA was granted an Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO) and freezing order over Binghai Su’s UK assets by the High Court in London. Binghai Su chose not respond to the UWO, and instead instructed Counsel to submit an application to discharge the UWO and freezing order. The hearing of the discharge application was listed for 5 November 2025.
On 5 November 2025 the NCA reached a settlement with Binghai Su and his company Su Empire Limited to recover assets that were deemed to represent the proceeds of crime.
The assets include three fossilised dinosaur skeletons — two Allosaurus skeletons (one juvenile/mother pair) and one Stegosaurus skeleton. The fossils were acquired via auction for a total around £12.4 million in December 2024.
Other assets include nine London apartments purchased for £15.7 million in 2024 and a collection of 11 Chinese artworks bought at auction for over £400,000 in 2022.
Under the terms of the settlement the NCA will sell all of the identified property and retain 75% of the proceeds, Su will receive the remaining 25%. Binghai Su will also repay over £340,000 in rental income from the London apartments. The total recovered is expected to be in the region of £20-21 million.
Rob Burgess, head of Asset Denial, said:
“While the recovery of dinosaur fossils is unusual, they demonstrate the value of the Proceeds of Crime Act which allows us to recover suspected criminal assets, whatever form they take. The result is the same, be it cash, houses or dinosaur bones; preventing people benefiting from the proceeds of crime.”
7 November 2025
