SINGAPORE, Nov 1  — A permanent prohibition order (PO) will be sought against a former wealth planner who was among the first to be charged in connection with a global probe into Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced today.

In a press release, the central bank said it has served notice of its intention to issue the PO against Yeo Jiawei, who was an employee of BSI Bank from Nov 2010 to July 2014.

In July this year, Yeo was jailed by a Singapore court for 54 months for money laundering and cheating. The sentence meted out to the 34-year-old was the heaviest among the five individuals convicted in the Republic so far in connection to the investigation. Yeo is also serving a 30-month jail term after he was found guilty in December last year of a separate charge of tampering with witnesses central to the probe into the Malaysian state fund. He will serve the remaining portion of the previous sentence concurrently with the new jail term.

The proposed PO will bar Yeo for life from performing any regulated activity under the Securities and Futures Act and taking part, directly or indirectly, in the management of any capital market services firm in Singapore.

Yeo is the third individual convicted of offences linked to the 1MDB probe here who could be issued a permanent PO. MAS had earlier announced it was issuing permanent POs against former Falcon Private Bank (Singapore) branch manager Jens Fred Sturzenegger and former BSI managing director Yak Yew Chee.

Today, MAS said Sturzenegger had appealed against its decision but the appeal has been dismissed, and the lifetime ban against him was upheld.

To date, a total of six persons involved in 1MDB-related breaches have been issued POs by MAS, with notices of intention to issue POs served on another two individuals  — Yeo and NRA Capital CEO Kevin Scully.

MAS is seeking a three-year PO against Scully. It is reviewing Scully’s written submissions as to why a PO should not be made against him and will announce its decision when the review is completed.

Six-year POs have been issued against Ang Keng Wee Kelvin, a former representative of Maybank Kim Eng Securities, and former NRA Head of Research Lee Chee Waiy, MAS said today.

Ang was fined S$9,000 (RM27,966) under the Prevention of Corruption Act for bribing Lee to expedite the preparation of a valuation report on PetroSaudi Oil Services Limited (PSOSL). Lee was the primary person in NRA Capital working on the valuation of PSOSL. He had accepted the bribe from Ang and had applied inappropriate methodology and assumptions in the valuation of PSOSL.

The POs issued have ranged from six years to lifetime bans.

MAS deputy managing director (financial supervision) Ong Chong Tee said the central bank “expects professionals in the financial services industry to uphold high standards of integrity and proper conduct”.

He added: “Those who fall short of these standards will be dealt with firmly, to safeguard public trust in our financial institutions and Singapore’s reputation as a clean financial centre.” — TODAY