Reported by LOW DE WEI, CHANYAPORN CHANJAROEN, AND ALFRED CANG / BLOOMBERG

Some of the biggest local and international banks in Singapore are becoming embroiled in one of the city-state’s largest money laundering cases.

DBS Group Holdings Ltd, the country’s largest bank, and Bank of Singapore Ltd., the private-banking arm of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp., are both creditors to investment firms linked to individuals arrested and charged earlier this month in a case involving over S$1 billion ($740 million) of assets, according to business filings seen by Bloomberg News. One of the accused also tried to cheat Standard Chartered Plc. with fake documents, according to a court hearing in Singapore on Wednesday. 

The banks join a list of financial institutions — including Malaysia’s CIMB Bank Bhd., Citigroup Inc.’s local subsidiary and Deutsche Bank AG — that have been linked to suspects in the alleged money laundering ring. Property agents, precious metals dealers and golf clubs in the city have also been drawn into the scandal, raising questions about guardrails against illicit money flowing into one of the world’s most important financial hubs.

Before this case, Singapore was rocked by scandals involving huge money flows from Malaysia’s state fund 1MDB and German firm Wirecard AG. The blow-ups have led to financiers being banned, people jailed and banks slapped with fines for inadequate controls. In May, lawmakers passed a billthat paved the way for banks to share information on potentially risky clients.

Read full report: https://time.com/6309579/singapore-money-laundering-banks/