A former BSI private banker pled guilty to charges of forgery and not flagging dodgy 1MDB transactions at the Swiss bank. The banker, who tended to Jho Low, was sentenced to 18 weeks jail and fined.
Yak Yew Chee is one of several former private bankers including Yeo Jiawei at Banca Della Svizzera Italiana, or BSI, to face charges over billions in graft from the Malaysian state fund.
The 57-year-old Yak was the relationship manager for Jho Low, believed to be the mastermind behind 1MDB's financial movements around the world.
Yak pled guilty ahead of his trial, which was expected next month, and was sentenced to 18 weeks jail time and a S$24,000 fine. He had been charged with seven counts of forgery and of not registering suspicious 1MDB transactions with the regulator.
«Truly Remorseful»
His lawyer argued that the former banker is «truly remorseful» and had cooperated with investigators, indicating that Yak may have implicated some of his former co-workers and associates in return for leniency in his own case. It is a different legal tack than pursued by Yeo, who seemed to implicate his former BSI bosses when he took the stand in his own defense.
Yak had committed the crimes at the instruction of Low, who «was not just my client's biggest customer, but was in fact BSI's biggest customer,» Yak's lawyer, Lee Teck Leng said.
