A former employee of Coutts private bank is standing trial in Zurich for breaking money-laundering laws. He was the compliance officer who gave the green light for transactions on behalf of Jho Low, the alleged mastermind of the 1MDB graft scandal.

The banker and previous compliance officer is standing trial in Zurich, according to a «Bloomberg» report (behind paywall). He let pass a payment of more than $700 million to an account belonging to Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low. The transaction took place ten years ago.

Jho Low is the man behind the billion-dollar-corruption scandal that engulfed Malaysia’s state fund 1MDB. He originally had opened an account at Coutts in Singapore for his Seychelles-based firm Good Star. In May 2009, he moved his banking business with Coutts from Singapore to Zurich.

Due Diligence Was Okay

After some initial concern and a visit by Jho Low at the offices of the bank in Zurich, the account was opened at the office as requested. A short while later, Jho Low requested a transfer of $700 million from 1MDB to his Good Star-account in Zurich.

Having initially opposed the transaction, the man now standing trial relented and waved the bid through. He required the de-blocking of Jho Low’s account in October 2009, on grounds that the due diligence was okay and that there was enough evidence suggesting the transaction was true and valid.

Coutts Changing Hands

The state attorney of Zurich wrote in the filing to the court that the culpability of the banker weighed heavily. The defending lawyer – the law professor Monika Roth – didn’t comment.

Royal Bank of Scotland in 2016 sold Coutts & Co. to Union Bancaire Privée (UBP), in the year that the scandal broke. Rival Falcon Private Bank lost its license Singapore and has since not been able to turn the ship around.

Others Stand Trial in Malaysia

BSI, the bank based in the Ticino region, which assumed the Coutts-business with the 1MDB masterminds in Singapore, lost its banking license in Switzerland and eventually was sold to EFG International. Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak, who kept close contact with Jho Low, was removed from office and is standing trial with other members of his family.