Two of Singapore’s Banking Giants Involved in Billion-Dollar Money Laundering Case

The two well-known banks in Singapore, Development Bank Singapore (DBS) and Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBS), have been accused of involvement in one of the country’s largest money laundering case.

Last month, Singapore police arrested 10 foreigners in a money laundering case and seized US $736m of virtual assets. Investigation revealed that the two most prominent banks, Development Bank Singapore (DBS) and Bank of Singapore (BOS), with the support of a private bank, Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBS), may have ties with the financial criminals and allegedly the largest money laundering case ever seen in Singapore’s history. As reports indicate, they are the creditors to investment firms linked to the individuals arrested by the Singapore police. Documents shared by the firms during the investigation indicated the firms had been associated with these banks a year before arrest. 

The DBS bank registered four charges involving a forgery investment firm, on August 18th 2021, against Aiqinhai investment firm. The owner of Aiqinhai investment firm, Su Haijin, along with directors, have been indicted with 10 individual scammers and accused by a Singapore court of conducting money laundering and document forgery. BOS also registered the same charge for Xinbao Investment Holdings, one of the two directors, Su Baolin, has also been accused by the court. 

The OCBS did not comment against these allegations, but a DBS spokesperson said the banking system would continue its work “to make Singapore a place where criminals cannot find harbour”. However, they did not answer questions about forgery investment firms’ charges and did not state specific names. The directors of both firms, Su Haijin and Su Baolin, are in remand by the Singapore police. Their lawyers haven’t yet responded to any email about the situation. 

Deutsche Bank, Malaysia’s CIMB Bank, and Citigroup’s local subsidiary are accused of being connected with the alleged money laundering ring. Beyond the banks, property dealers, investment agents, rare metal dealers, and luxury club owners in the country also have been defendants in the scandal. This raises many questions for the Singapore regulatory authorities.  

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