Linking 1MDB to the Century Bank of Mauritius
The Mauritius bank, Century Banking, owned by a group from Qatar opened its doors in Mauritius in 2011 and is located along the waterfront in the capital, Port Louis.
Mr. Jho Low’s (implicated in the Malaysian 1MDB money laundering scandal) family trust previously bought a high-end building in London from a prominent group in 2014.
The US Justice Department is trying to seize the building, according to an asset-forfeiture lawsuit. The DOJ has opened a civil case against the 1MDB players (the likes of Jho Low) accusing them of siphoning Malaysian money.
The DOJ has also made it clear that some politically linked figures in Malaysia has also obtained favours from people who stole 1MDB money. Malaysia has denied that the 1MDB money was stolen or laundered.
Months after Mr. Tim Leissner quit Goldman Sachs (Leissner is one of the main suspects in the 1MDB scandal and is banned from doing business in Singapore following conviction in the various 1MDB cases in Singapore), following his suspension, in March 2016.
The Century Bank is now linked to a Mr. Phengphian who worked with Leissner to help complete a purchase of Century Banking, according to people familiar with the matter said The Journal (WSJ).
Mr. Phengphian, a manager of Songkhla Finishing Co., a technology contracting company in Thailand, was roped in to fund the purchase of Century Bank, the people said. Lawyers for Mr. Phengphian declined to comment said WSJ.
The corporate registry in Mauritius shows Mr. Leissner set up a company called Blackfish International (Mauritius) Ltd. on Sept. 29, 2016.
On Nov. 11, Mr. Phengphian became a member of the Century board, and on Dec. 29 he transferred about €10 million ($11.6 million) from an account in Hong Kong to his Century Banking account, according to people with direct knowledge of the transfers.
The money was converted into Mauritian rupees and passed through two companies before ending up in the Century Banking account of Blackfish, which converted it to dollars and transferred about $7.7 million to a Mauritius law firm hired by Mr. Phengphian to help purchase the bank, these people said. A lawyer at the firm is a director of Blackfish along with Mr. Leissner, records show.
After that transaction—in late December 2016 or early this year—Mr. Leissner applied to Mauritius authorities to acquire a controlling stake in Century Banking and become an executive and board member, according to Mr. Leissner’s lawyer, Marc Harris, and Century Banking chief executive Muniruddeen Lallmahamood.
The Bank of Mauritius, the nation’s central bank, soon launched an investigation into the transaction after it learned that Mr. Leissner was associated with 1MDB and Mr. Low, according to people familiar with the matter.
The central bank later rejected Mr. Leissner’s application for “compliance concerns,” said Mr. Harris, the lawyer. Mr. Harris didn’t identify those concerns.
Mr. Lallmahamood declined to comment on Mr. Leissner’s application, except to say it wasn’t approved by the central bank.
Mr. Leissner did become a director of a fully owned subsidiary of the bank for several months, ending in April, corporate registry records show—a move that was approved by a different regulator.
In September, the German banker was barred from the U.S. securities industry for failing to cooperate with a regulator’s investigation related to his departure from Goldman.
Mr. Phengphian is now chairman of Century Banking’s board, appointed to the position in January after what the bank’s CEO, Mr. Lallmahamood, described as thorough due diligence in line with global best practices.
Source: Wall Street Journal