SINGAPORE — Singapore’s central bank has imposed penalties on nine financial institutions, including Citibank, Julius Baer and UBS, on Friday totalling S$27.45 million ($21.5 million) in relation to the country’s biggest ever money laundering case in 2023.
The case involved more than S$3 billion ($2.2 billion) in illicit assets seized after 10 foreigners were convicted in a series of simultaneous raids in August 2023.
The total penalty is just short of the S$29.1 million in penalties handed to eight banks in a case involving Malaysia’s 1MDB in 2017.
The banks involved – Credit Suisse, UOB, UBS, Citibank, Julius Baer, and LGT Bank – were each penalized between S$1 million and S$5.8 million.
Brokerage firm UOB Kay Hian, asset management firm Blue Ocean Invest and trust and fund services company Trident Trust Company Singapore were also penalised S$2.85 million, S$2.4 million and S$1.8 million respectively.
The penalties mark the conclusion of the central bank’s enforcement actions against financial institutions.
The 10 convicted money launderers were sentenced to jail terms of between 13 and 17 months in the city-state’s largest case of its kind. They were deported and barred from Singapore after completing their sentences.
They held money gained from overseas scams and online gambling operations in bank accounts in Singapore, and converted some cash into real estate, cars, handbags and jewellery.
