Ex-BSI banker Yeo Jiawei to appeal conviction in 1MDB-linked case

The front office of Swiss private bank BSI located at Suntec City. PHOTO: ST FILE

SINGAPORE (BLOOMBERG) - Yeo Jiawei, a former BSI banker found guilty of attempting to tamper with witnesses in a Singapore probe linked to 1Malaysia Development Bhd, will appeal his conviction and sentence, according to his lawyer.

Yeo, 34, was sentenced on Dec. 22 to a 30-month jail term, the longest yet handed down by the city's courts in 1MDB-related cases. His lawyer Philip Fong confirmed Yeo will appeal and declined to comment further. Yeo is the third former BSI banker to be found guilty in the city's 1MDB investigations.

Yak Yew Chee was sentenced in November to an 18-week jail term and fined for forging documents and failing to disclose suspicious transactions allegedly related to Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho. Another banker, Yvonne Seah Yew Foong, was jailed for two weeks and fined on Dec. 16 for similar offenses. Yak and Seah didn't file appeals, according to their lawyers.

Yeo had denied the charges. He also faces money-laundering charges, which will be dealt with in a trial set for April.

The Malaysian fund, at the heart of several money-laundering and corruption probes across the globe, has consistently denied any wrongdoing. Low has previously described his role with 1MDB as informal consulting that didn't break any laws.

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