Jack Ma's wife bought three prestige properties in Singapore worth millions

The wife of Chinese billionaire Jack Ma has acquired three so-called shophouses in Singapore, the Business Times reported, properties that are among the city-state's most highly prized.

Zhang Ying paid between S$45 million ($34 million) and S$50 million, the Business Times said, without specifying where it got the information.

The niche market has cooled after being hit by a major money-laundering scandal that surfaced in August. A mass sale of some of the seized shophouses bought by Chinese nationals implicated is ongoing.

Zhang, a Singapore citizen, became a director of three firms — Duxton 1 Holdings Pte, 72 Duxton Pte and Duxton Victory Pte — which own the shophouses in Duxton Road, a popular dining venue in the city center on Jan. 5, according to documents seen by Bloomberg News.

At the same time, a British Virgin Islands-registered firm, Jasmine Flourish Ltd., bought the majority shares in the three companies owned by Singapore-based Clifton Partners Pte and Cayman Islands-based Prep SG No.1 Ltd., the documents show.

Zhang played a key role in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s early days and was one of its first employees. Ma, co-founder of Alibaba and once China's richest person, has seen his tech empire and personal wealth hit by a government crackdown and new rivals. After a long stint outside the country, he returned last March, and he has taken up professorships at universities in Japan and Hong Kong.

The Jack Ma Foundation didn't respond to requests for comment.