Singaporean linked to German firm scandal faces five more charges

A Singaporean man now faces 11 charges in relation to scandal-hit German digital payments company Wirecard, after an additional five were imposed.

The new charges were lodged against R. Shanmugaratnam, a director of Citadelle Corporate Services, on Wednesday for allegedly faking five more letters in early 2017 stating bogus balances held in his company's accounts.

Citadelle is one of two companies the Singapore authorities are investigating.

The latest charges come as the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) ordered Wirecard entities in Singapore to stop their payment services here.

The charge sheets accuse Shanmugaratnam of falsifying two letters from Citadelle to Wirecard UK & Ireland.

One stated in February 2017 that Citadelle held in an escrow account a balance of €97.5 million (S$156 million) as at Nov 30, 2016. The second claimed in March 2017 that there was a balance of about €177.5 million in the same account as at Dec 31, 2016.

However, the account did not hold such balances, the charge sheets stated.

In March 2017, Shanmugaratnam also allegedly faked three letters from Citadelle - one to Wirecard AG and two to Cardsystems Middle East - stating that his company held amounts ranging from €30 million to nearly €86.4 million as at Dec 31, 2016, in three escrow accounts. But Citadelle did not actually maintain those three accounts, according to Wednesday's charge sheets.

These offences are all punishable under Section 477A of the Penal Code.

A few months ago, Shanmugaratnam, 54, was first accused of falsifying four letters that misrepresented his company's balances in accounts. He faced two more similar charges in August.

Citadelle has reportedly handled money for Wirecard in a trustee capacity.

However, it is not licensed to provide such services in Singapore and is not supervised by MAS.

The regulator has placed Citadelle on the Investor Alert List on its website.

THE BUSINESS TIMES