1MDB saga: Standard Chartered Bank refutes US$2.7bil claim by liquidators in Singapore
SINGAPORE: More than US$2.7 billion (S$3.4 billion) in alleged misappropriated funds are being sought from Standard Chartered Singapore (StanChart) in a High Court lawsuit filed by liquidators in the 1MDB saga.
The suit, which represents the latest attempt to recover funds siphoned from 1MDB as part of a decade-long hunt involving several of the world's largest banks, was brought by court-appointed liquidators from financial services firm Kroll Angela Barkhouse and Toni Shukla.
It seeks to hold StanChart accountable for its role in allegedly enabling fraud to be committed against Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund 1MDB and the systematic theft of funds.
StanChart, in response to The Straits Times' queries, said it has not yet received the legal claim documents, and emphatically rejects any claims made by these companies.
Three companies in liquidation linked to 1MDB alleged that between 2009 and 2013, StanChart permitted over 100 intrabank transfers that helped conceal the flow of stolen funds and chose to overlook obvious red flags regarding these transfers.
The suit claims that in doing so, the bank failed to comply with Singapore's anti-money laundering (AML) regulations and client due diligence rules.
The suit claims the three companies lost over US$2.7 billion and $20 million in public funds.
The liquidators claim these companies were shell companies with no legitimate business and were linked to fugitives Low Taek Jho and his associate Eric Tan.
They operated under false pretences, and acted as a conduit for funds misappropriated from 1MDB to launder monies.
StanChart, in a statement on Tuesday (July 1), said: 'Any claims by these companies are without merit and Standard Chartered will vigorously defend any lawsuit commenced by the liquidators.'
It added the transactions at issue date back to 2010.
'We reported the transaction activities of these companies, both before and at the time we shut their accounts in early 2013, and fully cooperated with the investigating authorities,' StanChart said.
'As set out in the Monetary Authority of Singapore's December 2016 media release on the penalties on StanChart for 1MDB-related AML breaches, MAS concluded their inspection of StanChart in relation to 1MDB-related fund flows.
'While MAS identified regulatory breaches, the inspection did not find pervasive control weaknesses or wilfull misconduct at Standard Chartered,' the bank said.
'Standard Chartered takes our responsibility to fight financial crime extremely seriously. We have made significant investments in strengthening our controls and uplifting our AML standards, and will continue to do so,' it added. - The Straits Times/ANN
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