SINGAPORE – Assets totaling S$240 million have been seized by the Singapore authorities as part of investigations into transactions linked to scandal-hit Malaysian state fund 1MDB, the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC), Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said in a joint statement on Thursday (July 21).
As part of the probe, MAS inspected DBS Bank and the Singapore branches of Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) and UBS and found lapses in processes.
The seized assets comprise bank accounts and dealings in properties of certain individuals, with about S$120 million belonging to Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho and his immediate family.
In its own statement, MAS said its supervisory examinations of financial institutions with 1MDB related flows found lapses in anti-money laundering controls and it will be taking action.
In its inspections of DBS, SCB and UBS, preliminary findings showed control failings and in some cases, weaknesses in the processes for accepting clients and monitoring transactions. MAS said the lapses were serious and will be met by firm regulatory actions against the banks, but the inspections did not reveal pervasive control weaknesses in these banks.
Breaches were also found in its inspection of the Singapore branch of Falcon Private Bank but the supervisory examination is still ongoing.
MAS has also examined licensed money changer – Raffles Money Exchange – and found weak management oversight, inadequate risk management practices and internal controls, and is finalising regulatory action against the firm.
The central bank added that its examination of certain other financial institutions are ongoing and more details will be provided when the examinations are completed.
The investigations into various 1MDB-related fund flows through Singapore for possible money laundering, securities fraud, cheating and other offences started in March 2015 and are still in progress.
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