Ex-Julius Baer banker involved in S$3 billion money laundering scandal to plead guilty to abetting forgery

Liu Kai, a Chinese national who was a relationship manager at Swiss private bank Julius Baer, is set to plead guilty to abetting one of the convicts in the S$3 billion money laundering case to use a forged document, the court heard on Wednesday (Oct 23).

He faces one charge under the Penal Code related to abetting Lin Baoying, the only woman convicted in the case, to submit a forged tax document in November 2020.

Police previously said Liu allegedly received various alterations of a forged tax document from Lin before submitting the final version to the bank as a supporting document to facilitate the opening of a bank account in Switzerland.

In court on Wednesday, his defence counsel Anthony Wong of Lee & Lee said Liu is “prepared to take a certain course, subject to resolving certain issues with prosecution pertaining to ongoing investigations and the current charge”.

The prosecution noted that the police’s Commercial Affairs Department is still conducting investigations into Liu, as they had just received new information.

Liu is out on bail of S$15,000. His next court appearance is a pre-trial conference fixed for Nov 22.

Liu, a Singapore permanent resident, was charged on Aug 15, a year after Singapore’s largest money laundering scandal first came into the spotlight with the arrests of 10 foreign nationals, including Liu’s client Lin.

Lin, a Chinese national, was in May handed a jail term of 15 months on two counts of forgery and one count of money laundering, with seven other charges taken into consideration by the judge during sentencing.

Lin was in June deported to Cambodia after completing her sentence, and barred from re-entering Singapore. The other nine have also been deported after serving their sentences.

Two others charged

Alongside ex-banker Liu, two other individuals were hauled to court on charges related to the S$3 billion money laundering case.

Liew Yik Kit, 41, was the personal driver to Cambodian national Su Binghai, who fled during the probe and is wanted for his involvement in alleged money laundering offences.

Liew was handed two charges on Aug 15 – one for lying to the police, and another one for obstructing the course of justice.

Liew has since indicated that he intends to plead guilty to the charge related to lying to the police.

Liew had allegedly told the police that he did not have any valuables belonging to Su Binghai, despite possessing the businessman’s four luxury cars – a Rolls-Royce Phantom, a Rolls-Royce Cullinan, a Ferrari F8 Spider and a Ferrari Stradale.

Liew’s lawyer, Kanagavijayan Nadarajan of Kana and Co, did not indicate how the accused would plead on a second charge of Liew allegedly disposing of the four luxury cars at a multi-storey carpark. 

The other individual, Wang Qiming, was handed 10 charges on Aug 15.

These were related to forging a document, abetting forgery, possessing laundered sums and obstructing the course of justice. He also allegedly lied to an Immigration and Checkpoints Authority officer.

Wang, 26, is a former relationship manager at Citibank, whose clients included two of the 10 convicted money launderers, Su Baolin and Vang Shuiming.

A Citibank spokesperson said Wang has not been employed by the bank since April 2022, and that it does not comment on matters before the courts.

In court affidavits produced during the hearings of the 10 foreigners, Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) investigators said they first probed Wang over alleged forgery claims before arresting him in 2021.

Liew is out on bail of S$15,000 and will next be in court on Nov 14. Wang was granted bail of S$25,000 and will return to court on Nov 6.

Source: Business Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

ADV: SAL Prac (Crime): Call for Papers Judge disallows disclosure of ex-WP cadre’s unredacted messages: Key points on Day 8 of Pritam Singh’s trial