According to Bloomberg, Yeo Jiawei, a former wealth planner at the Singapore arm of Swiss private bank BSI SA was charged on April 16 after investigations into the fund’s money flows led to him.
According to people familiar with the case who spoke to Bloomberg, Yeo had proposed investment products to 1MDB, and was questioned as part of Singapore’s probe into the company.
He was charged under Singapore’s Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes Act, according to the same sources, who also said prosecutors believed Yeo may have “concealed or disguised the benefits from criminal conduct.”
“If found guilty, he may be jailed for as long as 10 years and fined as much as S$500,000 (USD372,000). It’s not uncommon for Singapore prosecutors to amend or add charges as an investigation unfolds,” Bloomberg reported.
Yeo could not be reached for comment.
Besides Malaysia and Singapore, other countries probing allegations that 1MDB funds were used to line the pockets of “politically-connected individuals” are Switzerland, US and Luxembourg.
The Swiss Attorney-General has said some USD4 billion may have been misappropriated and while they have made it clear that Prime Minister Najib Razak is not a target in their investigations, a Malaysian parliamentary committee identified at least USD4.2 billion in irregular transactions were made by the fund, Bloomberg said.