MAS files police report over States Times Review article that ‘impugned its integrity’

SINGAPORE: The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has filed a report with the Singapore Police Force over an online article that it said made “false and malicious” statements and impugned its integrity.

The central bank said in a statement on Friday (Nov 9) that it filed the report against the author of the article published on the States Times Review, an alternative news website.

The article, titled “Lee Hsien Loong becomes 1MDB’s key investigation target”, alleged that Malaysia had signed several unfair agreements with Singapore in exchange for Singapore banks’ assistance in laundering the funds of Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

“The Monetary Authority of Singapore has filed a report with the Singapore Police Force against the author of an article published on www.statestimesreview.com on Nov 5, 2018, which made statements that were false and malicious and impugned the integrity of MAS as a financial regulator,” it said.

MAS called the article “baseless and defamatory”.

“The article ignores the unprecedented and robust actions taken by MAS over the last two years against Singapore-based banks and bankers in relation to their roles in 1MDB related transactions, in most instances ahead of enforcement actions by foreign jurisdictions,” it said.

“It also makes false allegations that Singapore was forced to reopen its investigations into 1MDB only after the change in political leadership in Malaysia.”

Investigations into the state fund had never been closed, said the central bank.

“At its Annual Report Press Conferences in 2016 and 2017, MAS had made clear that it would not hesitate to investigate any new leads or evidence relating to 1MDB-related fund flows,” it said. “This was reiterated in the public statement jointly issued by MAS, the Attorney General’s Chambers, and the Singapore Police Force on Jun 8, 2018.”

In addition, Singapore authorities had also cooperated with their counterparts in Malaysia, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the US during the tenure of the previous Malaysian government, added MAS.

“MAS has placed utmost importance on safeguarding its integrity as a financial regulator, and takes seriously any false allegations to the contrary,” it said.

The Malaysian state fund is at the centre of a corruption scandal which earlier this month saw the United States unveiling criminal charges against Malaysian financier Jho Low and two former Goldman Sachs bankers.

READ: US charges Jho Low, former Goldman bankers for 1MDB

READ: Jho Low denies wrongdoing after US charges over 1MDB scandal

Low and the former bankers are accused of conspiring to launder billions of dollars from the fund and bribing officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi.

Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak has also been hit by numerous charges linked to the scandal, including charges for money laundering, graft and criminal breach of trust.