KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 21): A total of 23 transactions that flowed to or from banks in Malaysia between 2010 and 2016 had been flagged by US-based banks as suspicious, a leaked document of the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) revealed.
Out of the 23 transactions, a total of US$4.88 million involved incoming funds and US$13.38 million involved outgoing funds, according to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ (ICIJ) website.
Public Bank Bhd was linked to seven transactions involving US$13.37 million sent out of Malaysia, followed by AmBank with two transactions involving a total of US$2.9 million received.
The other Malaysia-based banks flagged as “potentially suspicious” are Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd (two transactions, received US$462,378), CIMB Bank Bhd (two transactions, received US$211,868), HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd (two transactions, received US$871,637), OCBC Bank (two transactions, sent US$10,100, received US$30,253), Standard Chartered Bank Bhd (one transaction, received US$199,965), United Overseas Bank (three transactions, received US$84,234) and United Overseas Bank Malaysia Bhd (two transactions, received US$121.185).
These transactions were processed via three US-based banks, which filed suspicious activity reports with FinCEN, namely The Bank of New York Mellon Corp (14 transactions, sent US$10,100, received US$4.76 million), Standard Chartered Plc (seven transactions, sent US$13.37 million), and JP Morgan Chase & Co (two transactions, received US$121,185).
The 23 transactions, which were made between April 2010 and August 2016, involved overseas accounts in countries such as the US, Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, Taiwan, Singapore, Poland and Latvia, the leaked document showed.