Fined for not reporting $3 million in transfers
-
THE managing director of a company providing corporate secretarial services, failed to inform authorities in 2007 that he had been instructed by Mr Arafat Rahman Koko - the son of former Bangladeshi prime minister Khaleda Zia - to transfer and hold some $3,171,000 in his personal bank account.
The court was told that with his experience, Lim Siew Cheng, 63, should have suspected the money could be the proceeds of criminal conduct and should have reported it to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau or the police.
He did neither and on Monday he pleaded guilty and was fined $6,000 each for the two offences under laws to prevent money-laundering.
According to investigations, he got to know Mr Rahman, who wished to set up a company here, through a mutual acquaintance and in April 2004, Zasz Trading & Consulting was incorporated. Together with Mr Rahman, he was also an authorised signatory for Zasz bank account with United Oversea Bank (UOB).
A year later, he set up a second company for Mr Rahman, known as Fairhill Consulting, with Lim as the sole authorised signatory of its UOB account. On Feb 16, 2007, Mr Rahman called Lim to close down the two companies immediately because of political problems in Bangladesh. Lim was also instructed to transfer US$900,677 (S$1.2 million) in the Fairhill account and the S$2,013,467 in the Zasz account into his own bank account.
Madam Khaleda was prime minister from 1991 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2006. Her youngest son Rahman is now facing corruption charges in Bangladesh and is accused of laundering more than US$2.7 million through bank accounts in Singapore.
-- ST
-
Fined $6,000 for laundering millions.
Ouch.
-
very old story liao, they r the Mr. 10% when mother in power
-
This will teach potential million dollar money launderers that the law will crack their whips at them and slap them with a $6,000 fine for laundering millions of dollars.
Take that!
-
lol
-
$6000 is peaaaaaa nuts.
-
It was an honest mistake.