PUBLISHED ONFebruary 06, 2026 3:05 PMBYSean LerAfter Amos Yee, another Singaporean — Lim Seok Pheng — was on Friday (Feb 6), added to the US Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) list of "worst of the worst" criminal aliens.
Lim, 47, was arrested in May 2018 on suspicion of money laundering.
She was reportedly a New York-based member of a money laundering ring, who became a cooperating witness for the US government.
Lim was alleged to have collected vast sums of cash — of between US$150,000 and US$1 million (S$1.28 million) — from contacts in the drug cartels in New York and Chicago using burner phones. She would then work with US-based Chinese merchants to convert the money to yuan in banks in China.
Following her arrest at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, Lim agreed to wear a recording device to gather evidence against a Chinese businessman named Gan Xianbing, who was suspected of money laundering and unlicenced money-transfer offences.
She also brought undercover DHS investigation agents into the operation as money couriers on three separate cash pick-ups in Chicago that led to Gan's conviction, according to the trial testimony of Lim and the law enforcement agents.
US prosecutors said Gan had moved anywhere from US$25 million to US$65million in illicit drug proceeds from 2016 to the time of his arrest.
In a press release dated April 27, 2021, the US Attorney's Office in Illinois said that Gan had arranged for the narcotics money to be picked up in Chicago and transferred to various bank accounts in China, with the money ultimately intended for drug traffickers in Mexico.
Gan, then 50, was sentenced to 14 years in prison. His conviction and sentencing were upheld by the US Court of Appeal on Nov 23, 2022, according to a copy of the judgement seen by AsiaOne.
The Straits Times (ST) reported that Lim, who was released from a federal prison in Texas on Dec 23, 2025, had her application for an S visa rejected, and was detained by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement upon her release. An S visa is a non-immigrant visa for informants.
According to ST, Lim had cited how she assisted the US government by providing information that led to the prosecution of individuals who were laundering money for Mexican drug cartels, and feared for her safety if she were to return to Singapore.
Lim is among 5,000 new individuals added to the DHS database on Feb 6.
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