Former Julius Baer relationship manager jailed for involvement in billion-dollar money laundering case

SINGAPORE: A former relationship manager at private bank Julius Baer was sentenced on Friday (Oct 24) to four months’ jail for his involvement in Singapore’s biggest money-laundering case.

Liu Kai, a 36-year-old Chinese national, was convicted of using a forged document as genuine. His case relates to his assistance of Lin Baoying - one of the 10 people convicted in the case.

Lin, a Chinese national, was sentenced to 15 months' jail for two counts of forgery and one count of money laundering. She was deported after finishing her sentence. 

In August 2020, Lin contacted Liu for assistance in opening a bank account with Bank Julius Baer & Co in Switzerland, said the Singapore Police Force (SPF) in a news release on Friday.

Liu was a relationship manager at the bank’s Singapore branch at the time.

To facilitate the application, Liu requested supporting documents that showed proof of Lin’s income, such as income tax documents.

In response, Lin requested that Liu provide her with samples of tax documents filed in China, and asked him for advice on the amount of taxes that should be reflected on her tax documents.

Liu provided Lin with a few samples and also informed her that her tax document should reflect an income in the region of 500,000 yuan (US$70,100). Liu added that a whole number would look suspicious, said the police.

Lin later sent Liu a tax payment certificate purportedly issued by the Chinese tax authorities as proof of her income for the application.

“Liu suspected that the document was forged, via edits made to one of the sample documents he had earlier sent Lin,” said SPF.

The 36-year-old then guided Lin to make further edits to the document so that the information within would be more consistent with her earlier representations to the bank regarding the source and amount of her income, it added.

Liu received several revised versions of the Chinese tax document from Lin on Nov 24, 2020, and submitted one of the versions to Julius Baer’s Singapore branch.

“Liu had intended for the bank to find the document satisfactory and approve the opening of the account for Lin,” said the police.

Subsequent investigations showed that the document was forged and had not been issued by the Chinese authorities.

“The police take a very serious stance against acts to deceive financial institutions. They compromise the integrity of Singapore’s financial system,” said SPF.

“The police will take tough enforcement action against the perpetrators,” it added.

Liu was convicted under Section 471, read with Section 468 and Section 109, of the Penal Code.

Anyone convicted under Section 471 read with Section 468 of the Penal Code may face up to 10 years’ jail and a fine.