MAS imposes prohibition orders against duo linked to 1MDB probe
The Monetary Authority of Singapore has imposed a lifetime prohibition order against Yeo Jiawei (R), a former wealth planner who was among the first to be charged in connection with a global probe into Malaysian state fund 1MDB. A 3-year prohibition order was also issued against Mr Kevin Scully (L), CEO of NRA Capital. Photos: Handouts, Mediacorp
SINGAPORE — Two more persons linked to a global probe into Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) have been barred from offering financial advisory services, and managing or becoming a substantial shareholder of any firm in Singapore offering such services.
In a statement on Tuesday (Dec 19), the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said it had imposed prohibition orders against former BSI Bank wealth planner Yeo Jiawei and Mr Kevin Scully, founder of Singapore equity research firm NRA Capital.
The prohibition order against Yeo is permanent, while that against Mr Scully is for three years.
Both orders took effect from Monday. The MAS had previously taken similar action against six others involved in 1MDB-related breaches.
Yeo, a central figure in the authorities’ probe into the Malaysian state fund, was jailed in July for 54 months for money laundering and cheating. He is also serving a 30-month jail term after he was found guilty in December last year of a separate charge of tampering with witnesses central to the probe into the Malaysian state fund.
He will serve the remaining portion of the previous sentence concurrently with the newer jail term. The punishment meted out to Yeo, 34, was the heaviest among the five individuals convicted in the Republic so far in connection to the investigation.
Mr Scully is the second person from NRA Capital to be punished in the probe related to IMDB-related breaches.
Earlier, the firm’s former head of research Lee Chee Waiy was issued a six-year prohibition order from the MAS for accepting a bribe from a former Maybank Kim Eng Securities representative in order to expedite the preparation of a valuation report on PetroSaudi Oil Services Limited (PSOSL).
Mr Lee, the primary person in NRA Capital working on the valuation of PSOSL, had applied inappropriate methodology and assumptions in the valuation of PSOSL after taking the bribe.
“MAS found that Mr Scully had failed to ensure that NRA’s valuation of PSOSL was carried out with sufficient care, judgement and objectivity,” the central bank said on Tuesday.
