1MDB scandal: Former BSI banker Yeo Jiawei gets 30 months' jail in witness tampering case

SINGAPORE - Former banker Yeo Jiawei was sentenced to 30 months' jail on Thursday (Dec 22), a day after he was convicted on all four charges of witness tampering in the money laundering case involving billions of dollars allegedly misappropriated from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state fund.

For each of the four charges of tampering with witnesses, Yeo could have been jailed up to seven years and fined.

In his oral judgment delivered on Wednesday following a 12-day trial last month, the judge described the former BSI Bank executive as "unreliable" and "not credible" as a witness.

Judge Ng on Wednesday said: "The accused (Yeo) denied attempting to intentionally pervert the course of justice. He claimed the person who concocted the plan to lie to the CAD (Commercial Affairs Department) is Kevin Swampillai (his former supervisor at BSI).

"Having evaluated conflicting versions of evidence... I found the accused to be unreliable and not a credible witness. I disbelieved the evidence of the accused. He failed to raise reasonable doubts in the prosecution's case. The prosecution has proven the case beyond reasonable doubt against the accused in respect to all charges."

The court found that after Yeo's release on police bail, he had arranged a meeting on March 27 at the Swiss Club with his associate, Mr Samuel Goh Sze-Wei, and Mr Swampillai, then BSI's head of wealth management services. Yeo told them to lie to the police that the funds Mr Goh had transferred to companies owned by Yeo and Mr Swampillai were his investments.

Yeo had also told Mr Swampillai to "stick to the story" discussed earlier and to "play poker" with the CAD.

After he left BSI, Yeo continued with illicit transactions connected to the case. Some of these were allegedly conducted through legal and corporate services provider Amicorp Group.

Yeo was concerned that Amicorp employees Jose Renato Carvalho Pinto and Mun Enci Aloysius, who had received instructions from him in relation to these transactions, would be interviewed by the CAD.

He told Mr Carvalho to dispose of his laptop, and to "not travel to Singapore to avoid being interviewed" by the CAD. Yeo also abetted Mr Carvalho to tell Mr Aloysius to lie about not knowing of Yeo's dealings with Amicorp if he was questioned by the CAD.

Yeo is the third person to be convicted in Singapore's 1MDB investigation. Seven other charges involving cheating, money laundering and forgery next year, will be dealt with next year.

Yvonne Seah Yew Foong, a former BSI private banker, was sentenced last week to two weeks in jail and a fine of $10,000 for helping to forge documents and failing to report suspicious transactions allegedly related to Malaysian tycoon Low Taek Jho, who is also known as Jho Low.

Her supervisor, Yak Yew Chee, is serving an 18-week jail term and was fined $24,000 after pleading guilty last month to similar offences.

Yeo's lawyer Philip Fong said he is seriously considering appealing the conviction and sentence.