SINGAPORE - A new witness took the stand on day four of former BSI banker Yeo Jiawei's trial who corroborated the prosecution's assertion that Yeo had urged him to lie to police about certain fund flows linking Yeo to the embattled 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) fund.

Mr Samuel Goh, 41, who was formerly the head of the agency distribution at NTUC Income but is now unemployed, told the court today that he "reluctantly" met with Yeo and Yeo's former BSI boss Kevin Swampillai on March 27, where Yeo described an "investment story" that the three should present to the police to explain the suspicious fund flows.

"Mr Yeo said that it was time that we meet to hold hands and come up with a story explaining … the whole schematics of how the monies received by Bridge Global Managers were actually my monies," Mr Goh said, recalling the night-time meeting held at a cafe in the Swiss Club where Swampillai was a member.

"Mr Yeo remarked that we should hold hands, this is the story that we need to - if we go through this, we'll live together. If we die, we die together."

Mr Goh was approached by Yeo in 2012 to act as an intermediary to facilitate payments from 1MDB-linked shell company Bridge Partners to entities controlled by Yeo and Swampillai, via another shell, Bridge Global Managers.

Yeo faces four charges of perverting the course of justice for allegedly urging witnesses to lie to police while he was released on bail, after being arrested on March 17 in connection to Singapore's largest money laundering probe.

Counts of money laundering, cheating and forgery will be dealt with in a separate trial next year.