Ex-BSI banker Yeo Jiawei sentenced to 30 years in jail over 1MDB scandal

Yeo Jiawei was accused of brokering illegal transactions involving 1MDB funds and trying to influence witnesses in the case.

Singapore orders closure of Swiss bank BSI linked to 1MDB
The logo of Swiss private bank BSI Reuters

Singapore sentenced former BSI banker Yeo Jiawei to 30 months in jail after a 12-day trial in a case related to the money laundering at Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

The Singaporean executive who worked for Swiss bank BSI had been accused of brokering illegal transactions involving 1MDB funds and trying to influence witnesses in the case.

District Judge Ng Peng Hong pronounced Yeo guilty of tampering with key witnesses during the investigation into the 1MDB scandal. The court said Yeo was "unreliable" as a witness and "not credible" on the stand, Channel News Asia reported.

The judge said the prosecution proved the case against the 33-year-old executive, who worked for BSI from 2009 to 2014, beyond reasonable doubt.

"Having evaluated conflicting versions of evidence... I found the accused to be unreliable and not a credible witness. I disbelieved the evidence of the accused. He failed to raise reasonable doubts in the prosecution's case. The prosecution has proven the case beyond reasonable doubt against the accused in respect to all charges," the judge said.

The prosecution established that Yeo, while on a bail, met his associate Samuel Goh Sze-Wei and Swampillai, and instructed them to lie to the police that the funds they moved to firms owned by Yeo were his own investments.

Yeo lawyer has said the former banker will lodge an appeal against the conviction.

Earlier last week, the former director at BSI Bank in Singapore, Yvonne Seah Yew Foong, pleaded guilty to charges including failure to report suspicious transactions and forgery.

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