SINGAPORE – Days after catching sight of his business associate at the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) premises earlier this year, former BSI banker Yeo Jiawei started to call and text him to no avail.
Undeterred, Yeo hurried over to Mr Samuel Goh’s residence the same morning to find out more about the investigations, the district court heard on Thursday (Nov 4).
Giving his account of that March meeting on the witness stand, Mr Goh said that Yeo quizzed him on the CAD interview, and suggested they kept in touch through burner phones, which are cheap, disposable prepaid phones.
Yeo, 33, even offered to buy him a prepaid SIM card, but Mr Goh declined, choosing to visit a construction site near his house to buy over a spare phone from a foreign worker.
Mr Goh, who was formerly with NTUC Income, was testifying on the fourth day of Yeo’s trial for tampering with witnesses central to investigations on an international money-laundering operation, believed to be tied to the scandal-ridden 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) investment fund.
Yeo, who was a wealth planner with BSI between 2009 and 2014, has been accused of cheating the Swiss bank by taking an illicit commission from its transaction with Hong Kong-based fund manager Bridge Partners.
1MDB subsidiary Brazen Sky had parked US$2.3 billion (S$3.2 billion) in the bank. Sometime in 2012, BSI approached Bridge Partners — they were introduced by Mr Goh — to manage these funds.
Mr Goh set up shell company Bridge Global Managers (BGM) to receive commission for the referral, and channeled these monies to two other shell companies — Bridgerock Investment and GTB Investment — owned by Yeo and his ex-supervisor Kevin Swampillai respectively.
Mr Goh, 41, told the court that he was kept in the dark about the identities of the companies’ owners initially, and was merely told that the companies belonged to people “who were connected and important”.
Yeo later offered him half of the commission received by Bridgerock, which Mr Goh accepted.
“Subsequently, when I found out (about the actual owners of the shell companies), it did arouse my suspicion a bit and when I inquired further with Yeo, he said that his boss, Mr Swampillai, knows about it… so that allayed my suspicion a bit,” said Mr Goh.
“I did not think that anything was wrong, but I did suspect that they were earning extra income outside their employment with the bank.”
But when the CAD started looking into the matter, Yeo allegedly told Mr Goh and Mr Swampillai to lie to investigators that the commission was, in fact, an investment made by BGM.
Both Mr Goh and Mr Swampillai, who had testified earlier, had given similar accounts on the lengths that Yeo went to maintain secrecy, and the lie that he wanted them to tell.
“On March 19, Yeo tried to contact me several times on my usual mobile phone. I did not pick it up because I was given instructions not to contact him. He also sent me a text message,” said Mr Goh.
Yeo eventually showed up at his place.
“He said that there was a big understanding between himself and the CAD. That’s why I was caught up,” said Mr Goh, adding that Yeo instructed him to get a spare SIM card and delete his call logs from then on.
Defence lawyers acting for Yeo countered that it was Mr Goh who came up with these suggestions.
A week later, the two men met up with Mr Swampillai at the Swiss Club, in a meeting that Yeo apparently arranged.
“I was reluctant to be there because I was not supposed to be meeting or speaking with them,” said Mr Goh.
It was during this meeting that Yeo apparently came up with the story about the commission being a BGM investment.
“In the car ride back, Yeo still tried to assure me that this meeting didn’t take place, because I think he could see that I was quite uncomfortable,” said Mr Goh.
“After that meeting… I felt that it was only right that I tell the truth, and not cover up with the investment story,” he added.
The trial continues on Monday.
