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Ex-BSI banker Yeo Jiawei convicted of witness tampering in 1MDB-related probe

SINGAPORE — Ex-BSI Bank wealth planner Yeo Jiawei will be going to jail after he was convicted on Wednesday (Dec 21) of tampering with key witnesses involved in an international money-laundering investigation linked to the scandal-hit 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) investment fund.

SINGAPORE — Ex-BSI Bank wealth planner Yeo Jiawei will be going to jail after he was convicted on Wednesday (Dec 21) of tampering with key witnesses involved in an international money-laundering investigation linked to the scandal-hit 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) investment fund.

The maximum punishment for each of his four convictions for communicating with and meeting witnesses central to the Commercial Affairs Department’s (CAD) investigations is 3½ years’ jail and a fine. TODAY understands that prosecutors may be seeking a sentence that is higher than the norm in Yeo’s case, given the seriousness of the investigation.

The 34-year-old will return to court on Thursday afternoon where he will be sentenced.

Yeo faces seven other charges of cheating, forgery and money laundering, which will be dealt with in April next year. But it is believed that more charges may be brought against him as investigations are ongoing.

Delivering his brief grounds of decision yesterday, District Judge Ng Peng Hong said Yeo’s defence was that of denial but after listening to his account and arguments, the judge found Yeo to be an “unreliable” and “not credible” witness.

Over a 12-day trial on this set of offences last month, the court was told that Yeo amassed nearly S$24 million in just 15 months after leaving the Swiss private bank to become an independent consultant, serving clients that included Malaysian tycoon Low Taek Jho or Jho Low — who, in turn, has been linked to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Yeo accumulated his wealth by allegedly carrying out illegal transactions under shell companies, Bridgerock Investment Inc and GTB Investment Ltd, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Kiat Pheng previously.

The prosecution also tried to prove that Yeo had a close relationship with Jho Low, who is suspected of siphoning billions of dollars from 1MDB. For instance, DPP Tan had pressed Yeo about a trip to Hong Kong where he had flown in on Mr Low’s private jet.

Yeo was first interviewed by the CAD in October last year, and was arrested on March 17 this year.

After he was released on bail the following day, he contacted and met key witnesses to hide incriminatory evidence of his alleged crimes.

Sometime in March, Yeo met his associate Samuel Goh Sze-Wei and BSI supervisor Kevin Swampillai — both of whom testified for the prosecution during Yeo’s trial — at Swiss Club and asked them to lie to the police that the monies Goh transferred to Bridgerock Investment Inc and GTB Investment Ltd were his investments.

He also told them to “play poker” with the police and deny the truth first unless investigators showed that they had tangible evidence.

In that same month, Yeo told Amicorp Group relationship manager Jose Renato Carvalho Pinto to avoid travelling to Singapore to evade questioning from the CAD. He also told Mr Pinto to dispose of his laptop containing evidence of his alleged illegal dealings with the firm. Amicorp provides assurance, administrative, legal, corporate secretarial and support services.

In addition, Yeo got Mr Pinto to tell Mr Aloysius Mun, an Amicorp Group employee, to plead ignorance if the CAD asked about Yeo’s dealings with the company.

Yeo is the third former BSI employee to be dealt with in the courts here. Previously, former BSI banker Yak Yew Chee was sentenced to 18 weeks’ jail and a S$24,000 fine for forgery and for failing to disclose information on suspicious transactions.

Earlier this month, Yvonne Seah, also a former BSI banker, was sentenced to two weeks’ jail and fined S$10,000 for a similar set of offences.

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