MalayMail/Reuters-July 1
Liquidators for Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund 1MDB have sued Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore alleging it enabled fraud that led to more than US$2.7 billion (RM11.3 billion) in financial losses more than 10 years ago.
Standard Chartered today said that it emphatically rejected the claims. The move is the latest in a wide-ranging effort to recover money belonging to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), from which US investigators say about US$4.5 billion was stolen between 2009 and 2014 in a complex, globe-spanning scheme. Malaysian authorities have previously said there were billions of dollars more that were unaccounted for. Liquidators from financial services firm Kroll, which filed the lawsuit in the High Court of Singapore, said in a statement on Monday they were seeking to hold Standard Chartered accountable for its role in allegedly enabling fraud to be committed against 1MDB. Three companies in liquidation linked to 1MDB say Standard Chartered permitted over 100 intrabank transfers between 2009 and 2013 that helped conceal the flow of stolen funds. They also allege the bank chose to overlook obvious red flags in relation to the transfer of funds, resulting in the losses, the liquidators said. Standard Chartered said it had not yet received the legal filing documents.
“Any claims by these companies are without merit and Standard Chartered will vigorously defend any lawsuit commenced by the liquidators,” Standard Chartered said in a statement to Reuters. The liquidators said the funds that flowed through the Standard Chartered accounts included transfers to the personal bank account of former Malaysian prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is serving a six-year prison sentence after being convicted of graft linked to 1MDB. The fund transfers also involved business payments and purchases of jewelry and luxury goods for Najib’s wife and stepson, the liquidators said. Read more at:
