MAS queries banks over 1MDB

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) yesterday said it has called on some banks operating in the Republic to disclose information about transactions and fund flows related to its probe into possible money-laundering involving Malaysian state investment fund 1MDB.

“MAS is able to confirm that as part of its investigations into possible money-laundering and other offences in Singapore, it has been conducting a thorough review of various transactions as well as fund flows through our banking system. MAS has requested a number of financial institutions to furnish information relating to the review,” said an MAS spokesperson yesterday, but she did not provide further details.

The MAS statement came after The Australian newspaper yesterday reported that the banking regulator had questioned about 40 banks in Singapore, including two of Australia’s biggest lenders, in its 1MDB investigations. Transfer amounts as low as A$50,000 (S$51,750) are being investigated to see if the funds had been broken up to avoid scrutiny, reported The Australian. The MAS and the Commercial Affairs Department had said in February that they seized a “large number” of bank accounts in Singapore in connection with the probe.

Meanwhile, Luxembourg prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into allegations of embezzlement and money laundering linked to 1MDB involving “several hundreds of millions of dollars” transferred to an offshore company with an account in a bank in Luxembourg.

Authorities opened the probe after “concrete clues” concerning the embezzlement of funds coming from companies owned by the Malaysian state via “different offshore companies with accounts in Singapore, Switzerland and Luxembourg”, according to a statement issued yesterday. WITH AGENCIES