SINGAPORE (June 8): Singapore authorities said they issued warrants of arrest for Low Taek Jho and Eric Tan Kim Loong back in April and May 2016, following investigations of 1MDB-related fund flows through the financial system here that began in March 2015.
However, as Low and Tan cannot be located here in Singapore, local law enforcement agencies have also sought help from Interpol. The relevant so-called “Red Notices” were published back in October 2016.
An Interpol Red Notice is a request by a member country to locate and provisionally arrest a person based on a valid national arrest warrant.
“All members of Interpol, including Malaysia, would have been aware of the Red Notices when they were published,” states the Attorney General Chambers, the Singapore Police Force and the Monetary Authority of Singapore in a joint statement on Friday.
This joint statement comes a day after officials from both Singapore and Malaysia met for the second time. Malaysia’s 1MDB Taskforce, led by Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, met here at the invitation of Singapore authorities.
“It was a productive meeting, with a fruitful exchange of information. Singapore has been providing Malaysia information on 1MDB-related fund flows, since March 2015, and this was acknowledged by Malaysia. Both sides agreed to continue this cooperation,” the statement says. The first meeting was held on May 31 in Kuala Lumpur.
On Thursday, Malaysian authorities have reportedly issued arrest warrants for Low and former 1MDB official Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil. They are also reportedly preparing warrants for two others, another former 1MDB official Shahrol Halmi and Roger Ng, former Goldman Sachs banker. Low, through his representatives, have indicated his willingness to help with investigations.
Thus far, Singapore has convicted five individuals for various roles they played in facilitating 1MDB-linked fund flows through Singapore.
Of this five, three of them are former BSI bankers including Yak Yew Chee and Yvonne Seah, both of whom are relationship managers to Low. Yeo Jiawei, a former wealth planner, went to a full trial to fight against his charges. He was given a 30-month-long sentence. Jens Fred Sturzenegger, former branch manager of Falcon Bank, was given 28 weeks. Three others have been slapped with prohibition orders for lesser roles.
When Yeo, Yak, Seah and Sturzenegger had their cases mentioned in court between 2016 and 2017, their common thread was to have taken instructions from Low.
Low and Tan were first named as “persons of interest” on Nov 10 2016 when Oh Yong Yang, an officer from the Commercial Affairs Department, gave his testimony during Yeo's trial.
