03/01/2011

http://news.in.msn.com/international/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4760921

Singapore, Jan 3 (PTI) A Singaporean man was today fined over USD 9,000 by a court for money laundering by holding USD 2.46 million on behalf of Arafat Rahman Koko, son of former Bangladeshi prime minister Khaleda Zia, in his bank account.

The court told Lim Siew Cheng (63), managing director of a firm providing corporate services, that he should have suspected the money could be the proceeds of a criminal conduct and reported it to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau or the police, the Straits Times said.

Koko is facing corruption charges in Bangladesh and also accused of laundering more than USD 2.7 million through bank accounts in Singapore.

Lim was found guilty on two accounts of money laundering and was slapped with a fine of SGD 6,000 each (USD 4,600).

The convict received the amount SGD 3.17 million in 2007 after closing down two companies he had set up in Singapore for Koko.

Lim and Koko were authorised bank account signatories for a 2004-incorporated company Zasz Trading & Consulting. A year later, Lim set up for Koko a second company Fairhill Consulting and was also its signatory.

But on February 16, 2007, Koko told Lim to close the two firms immediately because of political problems in Bangladesh.

He also told the guilty to transfer the money from the two companies'' Singapore bank accounts into his own account.

Lim followed the direction and did not inform the police about the money transfer.