Serious Loong pse take Oath at Parliament, that you did not help 1MDB Najib

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/...e/3248946.html

Ex-BSI banker on trial for tampering with witnesses in Singapore’s 1MDB probe
By Vanessa Paige Chelvan Posted 31 Oct 2016 15:22 Updated 31 Oct 2016 22:35

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SINGAPORE: A former private banker allegedly involved in illicit transactions linked to Malaysia’s scandal-hit state fund 1MDB is on trial in Singapore for perverting the course of justice by tampering with key witnesses, urging them to lie and destroy evidence.

Yeo Jiawei, formerly a wealth planner at Swiss bank BSI, was arrested in March for suspected money laundering. Prosecutors said he played a “central role” in laundering “staggering amounts”, pocketing S$26 million in the process.

“This is by far the most sophisticated, largest money laundering case the (Commercial Affairs Department) has handled,” Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Kiat Pheng said at the opening of Yeo’s trial on Monday (Oct 31) - the first such trial linked to the probe, spanning six jurisdictions including Switzerland and the US, into 1MDB funds.

Yeo is on trial over four charges for perverting the course of justice. Another seven counts for money laundering, cheating and forgery have been stood down for the time being.

A District Court heard on Monday that when Yeo, 33, was released on bail one day after his arrest in March, he allegedly contacted three key witnesses and asked them to lie to the police to shield him and his firm, Bridgerock Investment.

At a meeting on Mar 27 at the Swiss Club in Singapore, Yeo is said to have asked Mr Kevin Michael Swampillai - then BSI’s wealth management services director - to lie to police that money Mr Samuel Goh Sze-Wei had transferred to Bridgerock Investment and GTB Investment were genuine investments.

In reality, prosecutors said, the monies had been siphoned from BSI bank and an unnamed fund manager into Bridgerock Investment and GTB Investment - companies owned by Yeo and Mr Swampillai respectively.

At the same meeting, Yeo allegedly asked Mr Goh to lie to police that the transfers were in fact his investments.

YEO ALSO INVOLVED IN ILLICIT TRANSACTIONS IN HIS OWN RIGHT: PROSECUTORS

Apart from his involvement as a BSI employee, Yeo was also involved in illicit transactions in his own right, prosecutors charged. He allegedly used the Amicorp Group to facilitate these transactions.

In March, Yeo allegedly told Mr Jose Renato Carvalho Pinto, an Amicorp Group employee, to dispose of his laptop because it contained evidence of Yeo’s dealings with the Group. He also told Mr Pinto not to travel to Singapore, lest he be questioned by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD).

Yeo allegedly instigated Mr Pinto to tell his colleague Mr Mun Enci Aloysius to feign ignorance if he was questioned by the CAD over Yeo’s dealings with Amicorp Group.

The first of four prosecution witnesses to testify on Monday was Ms Tan Ghim Lay, Mr Swampillai’s secretary of 11 years.

They met in 2005 while working at private bank RBS Coutts, and when Mr Swampillai moved to BSI in 2009, Ms Tan followed. At least three other colleagues, including Yeo, also moved to join Mr Swampillai's team as he headed the wealth solutions department at BSI, Ms Tan said.

As she managed his diary, Ms Tan knew when Mr Swampillai was called up by the CAD for questioning in October 2015. This was around the time Mr Swampillai asked her to “urgently” buy him a pre-paid SIM card in her name, which he could use to make overseas calls.

“Did he tell you why he could not use his mobile phone to make phone calls? Or his office line? … Or his home line? Did you even think of asking him?” Yeo’s lawyer Mr Philip Fong asked.

He alleged Mr Swampillai wanted a new line under her name because he was being investigated by the CAD. Ms Tan denied this, saying the possibility never occurred to her.

If found guilty of intentionally perverting the course of justice, Yeo faces up to seven years’ jail and could also be fined.

Yeo’s trial is scheduled for nine days, from Oct 31 to Nov 7 (excluding Nov 4).

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) ordered the Swiss private bank to close its Singapore offices in May, over “serious breaches of anti-money laundering requirements, poor management oversight of the bank’s operations, and gross misconduct of the bank’s staff”, MAS had said.

The authority also referred six of the bank’s senior management and staff in Singapore to the Public Prosecutor. To date, three - including Yeo - have been charged.

Mr Swampillai, who was also fingered, has been suspended by the bank, MAS said. He has not been charged.

- CNA/xk/dl


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