Unlock the Digest of the editor for free
Liquiders who try to earn back billions of dollars who were initially transferred from the sovereign Wealth Fund of Malaysia, are looking for more than $ 2.7 billion from Standard Chartered, in a lawsuit that has been submitted against the British bank about her alleged role in the scandal.
The suit, submitted in Singapore on Monday, represents the last attempt to reclaim money from 1MDB as part of a decade hunt in which several of the world’s largest banks are involved.
The case against Stanchart relates to the billions of dollars that have been laundered after being darkened of 1mdb. The lawsuit claims that the lender did not expect the anti-money laundering practices, according to people with knowledge of the claim.
The Regulator of Singapore has already imposed sanctions on Stanchart about anti-money laundering practices with regard to the case.
The plaintiffs claim that between 2009 and 2013 more than 100 intra-bancaire transfers were allowed by Stanchart, who helped to hide the flow of stolen funds. They claim that different red flags were ignored.
In a statement to the Financial Times, the bank said it had not yet received the claim documents. It said that it “explicitly issues any claims” that of the 1MDB companies were made, and added that the liquidators had publicly stated that they were “Shell companies without a legitimate company”.
“All claims of these companies are without merit and Standard Chartered will be a lawsuit strongly defending that is started by the liquidators,” said the bank. Stanchart added that it had made ‘important investments’ in its anti-money laundering practices and standards.
The looting of the sovereign power fund of Malaysia has fallen as one of the greatest fraud of all time. Researchers in the US claim that at least $ 4.5 billion from the fund was stolen by various regulations conceived by the Malaysian financier Jho Low, who in general remains but maintains his innocence.
The fraud also led to the prosecution of the Malaysian Prime Minister at the time, Najib Razak. He was convicted and eventually sentenced to six years in prison. It also concerned several of the largest banks in the US, Europe and Asia.
Last month, Tim Leissner, the crashed former Goldman Sachs Banker in the heart of the affair, was sentenced to two years in prison by the Federal Court of Brooklyn.
Liquiders at financial service provider Kroll, who coordinates the 1MDB recovery efforts, have identified more than $ 2.7 billion that flowed by Stanchart accounts, including payments to Najib and purchases of jewelry and luxury goods for his family members, according to people who are under the court case.
The Singapore financial system was an important leadership of Malaysia to the rest of the world in the 1MDB scandal. This caused shame for the city state, which has long made itself proud as a hub of stability and rule of law. The affair led to stricter anti-money laundering practices for banks.
In 2016, the monetary authority of Singapore fined a fine of Stanchart S $ 5.2 million (US $ 4 million) after an investigation into the fraud 28 infringements to the bank of the anti-money laundering requirements of the regulator brought to light between 2010 and 2013.
“The Inspectorate revealed considerable decline in the due diligence measures and checks of the bank of the bank for continuous monitoring, which resulted in countless infringements of the AML regulations of MAS,” the regulator said at the time.
“The check is due to shortcomings in policy and procedures, insufficient independent supervision of front office staff and a lack of consciousness of money laundering with some bank staff.”
Although the MAS said that it was not intentional misconduct by Stanchart, the bank ordered the bank to take disciplinary measures against staff who have not performed their duties.
Stanchart was one of the different benches that were investigated by the MAS and fined in 1mdb. Others include the local branch of Swiss lender UBS and local bank DBS.
Various Singaporean Bank managers were imprisoned and fined fined because of their involvement in the case.
Stanchart fights against a separate lawsuit of £ 1.5 billion London about claims that the infringements of sanctions against Iran were more widespread than it has recognized. The bank failed in an attempt in March to limit the scope of the claim.
In 2019, the bank charged the Iran case by agreeing to pay UK and American regulators $ 1.1 billion.