SINGAPORE – In exchange for $500 a month, a man agreed to be the sole director of a firm called Strategic Corporate Investments without getting involved with its dealings.
The police said on Feb 7 that despite heading Strategic, Thilagaratnam Rajaratnam did not know the company had received more than €54 million (S$78 million) in its bank account from Wirecard AG between December 2014 and September 2015.
The monies were later transferred to various other parties, the police added.
The Straits Times had earlier reported that Wirecard AG, a German payment processing company, had filed for insolvency in Germany in June 2020 after admitting €1.9 billion in cash was missing from its accounts.
The company’s former chief executive Markus Braun and several other top executives were then arrested on fraud charges.
Thilagaratnam, a 60-year-old Singaporean, was sentenced to four weeks’ jail on Feb 7 after he failed to exercise diligence in his duties as Strategic’s director.
At the time of the offence, his brother, R. Shanmugaratnam, 58, was a director at Citadelle Corporate Services, a firm providing corporate secretarial services. Its clients included companies owned by Briton James Henry O’Sullivan, 49.
Both Shanmugaratnam and O’Sullivan were allegedly involved in the Wirecard case here. Their cases are pending.
For the current case, Deputy Public Prosecutor Vincent Ong said Shanmugaratnam asked Thilagaratnam to be Strategic’s nominee director some time in or around early 2014.
According to court documents, Thilagaratnam was told he would not be involved in the company’s management and would not have any responsibilities.
He was also told he would only need to sign documents for the company, and take instructions from O’Sullivan’s team whenever needed, said the DPP.
Thilagaratnam agreed to be Strategic’s sole director for $500 a month. He thought the company was doing e-commerce but did not know, and did not try to find out, details about its activities.
Strategic was incorporated on March 17, 2014.
Between December 2014 and September 2015, Strategic received more than €54 million from Wirecard AG.
DPP Ong said the monies were later transferred to various parties, adding: “These transactions purportedly related to Wirecard AG’s planned acquisitions of companies in Brazil and Panama.
“Strategic was purportedly appointed as an escrow agent to hold the incoming transfers, pending further instructions from (parties including) Wirecard AG... Strategic did not have these sums in its bank accounts after the outgoing transfers.”
Thilagaratnam was unaware of such transactions.
The prosecution told the court that between March 29, 2016, and April 7, 2018, Shanmugaratnam prepared seven letters from Strategic addressed to Wirecard AG and handed them to Thilagaratnam.
Thilagaratnam signed the seven letters, confirming that Strategic purportedly held up to €54 million in escrow in its bank account for Wirecard AG.
He did so without ensuring that the contents of the letters were true.
DPP Ong said the contents of the letters turned out to be false, as Strategic did not have the monies in its account during the period mentioned in the letters.
The court heard that Shanmugaratnam later sent the letters to parties including Wirecard AG’s auditors in Germany.
In June 2020, Wirecard AG filed for insolvency in Germany.
Thilagaratnam was represented by lawyers Adrian Wee, Lynette Chang and Matthew Low from Lighthouse Law.
The lawyers stated in court documents that he was negligent and pleaded for him to be given a fine of $5,000.
Thilagaratnam’s bail was set at $30,000, and he is expected to surrender himself at the State Courts on Feb 29 to begin serving his sentence.
ST previously reported that Wirecard Singapore had been providing payment processing services to about 1,900 companies here before the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) ordered it to stop on Sept 30, 2020.
MAS also directed the firm to return all of its customers’ funds within two weeks.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...ware-his-firm-received-over-78m-from-wirecard
The police said on Feb 7 that despite heading Strategic, Thilagaratnam Rajaratnam did not know the company had received more than €54 million (S$78 million) in its bank account from Wirecard AG between December 2014 and September 2015.
The monies were later transferred to various other parties, the police added.
The Straits Times had earlier reported that Wirecard AG, a German payment processing company, had filed for insolvency in Germany in June 2020 after admitting €1.9 billion in cash was missing from its accounts.
The company’s former chief executive Markus Braun and several other top executives were then arrested on fraud charges.
Thilagaratnam, a 60-year-old Singaporean, was sentenced to four weeks’ jail on Feb 7 after he failed to exercise diligence in his duties as Strategic’s director.
At the time of the offence, his brother, R. Shanmugaratnam, 58, was a director at Citadelle Corporate Services, a firm providing corporate secretarial services. Its clients included companies owned by Briton James Henry O’Sullivan, 49.
Both Shanmugaratnam and O’Sullivan were allegedly involved in the Wirecard case here. Their cases are pending.
For the current case, Deputy Public Prosecutor Vincent Ong said Shanmugaratnam asked Thilagaratnam to be Strategic’s nominee director some time in or around early 2014.
According to court documents, Thilagaratnam was told he would not be involved in the company’s management and would not have any responsibilities.
He was also told he would only need to sign documents for the company, and take instructions from O’Sullivan’s team whenever needed, said the DPP.
Thilagaratnam agreed to be Strategic’s sole director for $500 a month. He thought the company was doing e-commerce but did not know, and did not try to find out, details about its activities.
Strategic was incorporated on March 17, 2014.
Between December 2014 and September 2015, Strategic received more than €54 million from Wirecard AG.
DPP Ong said the monies were later transferred to various parties, adding: “These transactions purportedly related to Wirecard AG’s planned acquisitions of companies in Brazil and Panama.
“Strategic was purportedly appointed as an escrow agent to hold the incoming transfers, pending further instructions from (parties including) Wirecard AG... Strategic did not have these sums in its bank accounts after the outgoing transfers.”
Thilagaratnam was unaware of such transactions.
The prosecution told the court that between March 29, 2016, and April 7, 2018, Shanmugaratnam prepared seven letters from Strategic addressed to Wirecard AG and handed them to Thilagaratnam.
Thilagaratnam signed the seven letters, confirming that Strategic purportedly held up to €54 million in escrow in its bank account for Wirecard AG.
He did so without ensuring that the contents of the letters were true.
DPP Ong said the contents of the letters turned out to be false, as Strategic did not have the monies in its account during the period mentioned in the letters.
The court heard that Shanmugaratnam later sent the letters to parties including Wirecard AG’s auditors in Germany.
In June 2020, Wirecard AG filed for insolvency in Germany.
Thilagaratnam was represented by lawyers Adrian Wee, Lynette Chang and Matthew Low from Lighthouse Law.
The lawyers stated in court documents that he was negligent and pleaded for him to be given a fine of $5,000.
Thilagaratnam’s bail was set at $30,000, and he is expected to surrender himself at the State Courts on Feb 29 to begin serving his sentence.
ST previously reported that Wirecard Singapore had been providing payment processing services to about 1,900 companies here before the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) ordered it to stop on Sept 30, 2020.
MAS also directed the firm to return all of its customers’ funds within two weeks.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...ware-his-firm-received-over-78m-from-wirecard
