Singapore Government can no longer pretend that Najib Razak is not a person of interest : Singapore cannot say it does not know where US$530 million went to

by Ganesh Sahathevan

In an apparent attempt to be not embarrassed by even the Swiss (story below),the Singapore Government let it be known yesterday that it will start prosecuting persons involved in the 1 MDB matter. The Government owned and controlled Straits Times reported yesterday: 

The first name has emerged in an ongoing probe by Singapore authorities into bank accounts related to alleged financial mismanagement at Malaysian state investor 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Sources say he is Yak Yew Chee, a senior private banker with BSI Singapore, a Swiss bank. A check with the High Court shows that a criminal motion will be heard this Friday (Feb 5) at 10am.

He was the relationship manager for 1MDB Global Investments Ltd, Aabar Investment PJS Limited and SRC International Sdn Bhd and Low Taek Jho.

That the Government has described Mr Yak as relationship manager for 1MDB Global Investments Ltd, Aabar Investment PJS Limited and SRC International Sdn Bhd and Low Taek Jho.

is interesting given that these are all the main players in the 1 MDB scandal.

PM Najib who is also Minister for Finance is in effect chairman of  SRC International Bhd and the person ultimately responsible for 1MDB Global Investments Ltd. 1 MDB has a three-tiered system of governance and heading it all as chairman is, again, Najib Razak. 

That such large transactions could have taken place without his knowledge is inconceivable and one should not forget that the transactions that comprise these crimes total approximately US$ 4 billion, approximately half of 1 MDB's capital. 

To make matters worse for Singapore's leadership, the transactions in question involve the movement  of some US$ 530 million which seems to have gone missing:

In March, Malaysian authorities were told of $529 million said to have been deposited between 2011 and 2013 into a business bank account in Singapore controlled by Mr. Low.

Information about the deposits and Mr. Low’s ownership of the account was given in a letter dated March 13 this year from Singapore’s police to Malaysia’s central bank, a copy of which was reviewed by the Journal. Malaysia had asked Singapore, its neighbor and the financial hub of Southeast Asia, for help in its investigation into 1MDB, according to the letter. In the letter, the police’s Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office gave details of deposits into the business account from the Swiss bank account of a company called Good Star Ltd.

Clearly, Singapore's leadership would know what became of all that money.The answer seems so obvious that Singapore must now charge ALL involved, or declare them innocent.

END 

Falcon Bank in breach of US Non-Prosecution Agreement: Swiss AG says quantum of related transactions is USD 4 billion,while Singapore MOF,MAS, remain silent