Remaining charges withdrawn for 2 men sentenced to jail over offences linked to Wirecard
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Singaporean R. Shanmugaratnam (left) and Briton James Henry O’Sullivan will be appealing against their convictions and sentences.
ST PHOTOS: KELVIN CHNG
SINGAPORE – Two men who received jail sentences in January over offences linked to collapsed German payments company Wirecard have had all their remaining charges withdrawn.
Singaporean R. Shanmugaratnam, 60, had one pending charge of falsification of accounts after he was sentenced to 10 years’ jail on Jan 6.
Briton James Henry O’Sullivan, 51, still faced two similar charges after he was ordered to spend 6½ years behind bars on the same day.
Without disclosing details, the Attorney-General’s Chambers told The Straits Times on Feb 6: “After careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the matter... the prosecution applied for a withdrawal of the remaining charges.”
District Judge Chee Min Ping then granted a discharge amounting to an acquittal for all three charges at a pre-trial conference on Jan 29.
Shanmugaratnam was convicted of 13 counts of falsification of accounts linked to nearly €1.1 billion (S$1.65 billion)
O’Sullivan, who had abetted him, was convicted of five counts of falsification of accounts.
A district court found them guilty of their charges in September 2025 after a trial.
In earlier proceedings, the court heard that from 2016 to 2018, Shanmugaratnam, who was then a director of Citadelle Corporate Services, issued 13 balance confirmation letters.
The documents falsely confirmed to Wirecard, its related companies WCUKI and Cardsystems, as well as their auditors, that Citadelle held nearly €1.1 billion in escrow for the Wirecard entities across three financial years.
Escrow is an essential service in capital markets that supports transactions such as mergers and acquisitions.
O’Sullivan had abetted Shanmugaratnam to issue five of the letters in March 2017, the court heard.
Both men will be appealing against their convictions and sentences.
Wirecard filed for bankruptcy in 2020
The company’s former chief executive Markus Braun and several other top executives were then arrested.
