Singapore police freeze two bank accounts linked to 1MDB probe
Authorities have frozen two bank accounts to help with an investigation into Malaysia’s troubled state-owned investment fund 1MDB, which is being probed by authorities in Malaysia for financial mismanagement and graft.
“On 15 July 2015, we issued orders under the Criminal Procedure Code to prohibit any dealings in respect of money in two bank accounts that are relevant to the investigation,” Singapore police said in a statement on Wednesday (July 22).
It did not identify the banks or the accounts in question because the investigation is continuing.
A 1MDB spokesman declined to comment.
The freezing of the Singapore bank accounts follows a similar move in Malaysia where a task force investigating 1MDB said earlier this month that it had frozen half a dozen bank accounts following a media report that nearly US$700 million (S$955 million) had been transferred to an account of Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak.
The Wall Street Journal reported on July 3 that investigators looking into 1MDB had traced close to US$700 million of deposits moving through Falcon Bank, a Swiss private bank, in Singapore into personal bank accounts in Malaysia belonging to Najib.
Reuters has not verified the WSJ report.
Najib has denied taking any money for personal gain and said the corruption allegations are part of a malicious campaign to force him out of office.
Datuk remanded
Separately, The Star reported on Wednesday morning that a managing director of a firm related to 1MDB had been remanded in Putrajaya to assist in investigations into the alleged misappropriation of funds.
The man, a Datuk, is the second to be remanded in the ongoing investigation.
Malaysian authorities said the man, who is 54, is being probed for receiving bribes.
On Tuesday, a director of a construction firm based in Putrajaya was arrested at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
Sources: Reuters, The Star
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