Carlos Manuel De Sao Vicente, an Angolan businessman convicted of money laundering, failed in his bid in Singapore to get his funds released from the private banking arm of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.
(Bloomberg) — Carlos Manuel De Sao Vicente, an Angolan businessman convicted of money laundering, failed in his bid in Singapore to get his funds released from the private banking arm of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.
De Sao Vicente had sought S$2.6 million ($1.9 million) from his Bank of Singapore account for his legal expenses in Switzerland, Angola and the city-state, according to a Singapore High Court ruling released this week. Singapore police in 2021 seized $574 million held at the bank for the tycoon and his family.
The case casts a spotlight on wealth management in the affluent tiny city-state, that has enjoyed a boom in the private banking business driven by a surge in flows. Along with Singapore’s rise as a financial hub, authorities have been seeking to make it easier for banks to curb the illicit movement of funds.
Justice Vincent Hoong ruled that De Sao Vicente’s family has “more than sufficient assets” for his legal defence. At the peak of his wealth, he had a fortune of more than $1 billion. The Swiss courts should also decide whether the funds should be released, Hoong wrote.
The businessman said his family is being targeted because of his wife’s criticism of alleged corruption in Angola, and that the sum sought is his only way to justice, according to the ruling. TSMP Law Corp. represented De Sao Vicente in Singapore.
In 2020, he was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment and fined by Angolan authorities for embezzlement, tax fraud and money laundering. He was also ordered to pay $4.5 billion to Angola. De Sao Vicente was an employee of Sonangol EP, an Angolan state-owned oil enterprise during the early 2000s.
Singapore’s white-collar crime unit found unexplained money transfers from De Sao Vicente’s AAA International into his personal Bank of Singapore account from 2018 to 2019, according to the ruling. The businessman also allegedly moved funds from his Singapore account to his family members’ overseas accounts.
Bank of Singapore has “robust anti-money laundering and client due diligence controls,” said Chew Qi, the firm’s global head of financial crime compliance, in response to queries. “Where the bank becomes aware of adverse news on our clients, we have protocols to respond swiftly to restrict account activity and to exit the relationship.”
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