Singapore charges 2 former Chinese bankers in US$2.3 billion money-laundering scandal

Wang Qiming, an ex-employee of Citibank Singapore Ltd., was charged with 10 counts including forging documents for the purpose of cheating the bank, according to charge sheets read out in a local state court on Thursday.

Liu Kai, formerly with Bank Julius Baer & Co., was accused of aiding one of the now-convicted money launderers in submitting a forged Chinese tax document to open a bank account in Switzerland.

Both men, who are Chinese nationals, declined to comment after the hearing.

The scandal had sent shock waves across the Asian wealth hub after authorities last year seized cash, properties, cryptocurrencies and other assets totalling S$3 billion (US$2.3 billion). Ten people of Chinese origin were sent to jail this year for laundering illicit funds from illegal overseas gambling operations and other offences, while more remain at large.

“We take a very serious view of the laundering of criminal proceeds through our financial system,” David Chew, director of the police force’s commercial affairs department, said in a statement late Wednesday.

“Those who help clients circumvent their financial institutions’ due diligence processes or who help clients forge documents to conceal the true nature of their assets, must be dealt with robustly under our laws.”