VICTORIA: The Seychelles is helping an international investigation into the
troubled state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), the state's
Financial Intelligence Unit on the Indian Ocean archipelago said.
Transactions involving 1MDB, which has piled up US$11 billion in debt, are
at the centre of corruption and money laundering investigations in
jurisdictions that include the United States, Switzerland, Singapore,
Luxembourg and the United Arab Emirates.
"The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has been assisting in an
international investigation into allegations surrounding the strategic
Malaysian fund called 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB)," the FIU said in
a statement emailed to Reuters.
"Detailed information relating to offshore entities registered in
Seychelles and other matters were passed to the competent authorities of
investigating states," it said.
The statement was sent to Reuters by Seychelles president's office on
behalf of the FIU. It is the first public acknowledgement that Seychelles
has joined the widening investigation into 1MDB, whose advisory board is
chaired by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.
UNVERIFIED BANK ACCOUNTS
The FIU did not name any entities involved in the investigation. The
nation's Financial Services Authority said a search of companies registered
in Seychelles would not provide information regarding shareholders or
company directors.
A Malaysian parliamentary investigation found that US$4.2 billion of 1MDB's
money is unaccounted for or went to overseas bank accounts whose owners
could not be ascertained.
It said about US$700 million was sent without board approval to an account
with private banker RBS Coutts in Geneva under the name of Good Star Ltd.
The report said could not determine who owned the Good Star account. RBS
Coutts has declined to comment.
In February, the Swiss attorney-general's office said it believed US$4
billion had been misappropriated from Malaysian state companies. Singapore
announced it had seized a "large number of bank accounts" as part of
investigations into a company closely linked to 1MDB.
The Seychelles and other offshore financial centres have increasingly come
under the spotlight as global leaders seek to clamp down on money
laundering and the use of so-called tax havens.
The Seychelles has repeatedly said it works to ensure the archipelago is
not a jurisdiction where money laundering or other illegal activities are
allowed to go undetected.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/seychelles-says-helping/2726482.html
troubled state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), the state's
Financial Intelligence Unit on the Indian Ocean archipelago said.
Transactions involving 1MDB, which has piled up US$11 billion in debt, are
at the centre of corruption and money laundering investigations in
jurisdictions that include the United States, Switzerland, Singapore,
Luxembourg and the United Arab Emirates.
"The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has been assisting in an
international investigation into allegations surrounding the strategic
Malaysian fund called 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB)," the FIU said in
a statement emailed to Reuters.
"Detailed information relating to offshore entities registered in
Seychelles and other matters were passed to the competent authorities of
investigating states," it said.
The statement was sent to Reuters by Seychelles president's office on
behalf of the FIU. It is the first public acknowledgement that Seychelles
has joined the widening investigation into 1MDB, whose advisory board is
chaired by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.
UNVERIFIED BANK ACCOUNTS
The FIU did not name any entities involved in the investigation. The
nation's Financial Services Authority said a search of companies registered
in Seychelles would not provide information regarding shareholders or
company directors.
A Malaysian parliamentary investigation found that US$4.2 billion of 1MDB's
money is unaccounted for or went to overseas bank accounts whose owners
could not be ascertained.
It said about US$700 million was sent without board approval to an account
with private banker RBS Coutts in Geneva under the name of Good Star Ltd.
The report said could not determine who owned the Good Star account. RBS
Coutts has declined to comment.
In February, the Swiss attorney-general's office said it believed US$4
billion had been misappropriated from Malaysian state companies. Singapore
announced it had seized a "large number of bank accounts" as part of
investigations into a company closely linked to 1MDB.
The Seychelles and other offshore financial centres have increasingly come
under the spotlight as global leaders seek to clamp down on money
laundering and the use of so-called tax havens.
The Seychelles has repeatedly said it works to ensure the archipelago is
not a jurisdiction where money laundering or other illegal activities are
allowed to go undetected.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/seychelles-says-helping/2726482.html
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