In a statement, Singapore Police said Thilagaratnam Rajaratnam of Strategic Corporate Investments, who was found guilty in October last year, was also disqualified from serving as a director of the company for five years.
Published date – February 8, 2024, 9:15am
Singapore:On Wednesday, a 60-year-old Singaporean-Indian national was sentenced to four weeks in prison for failing to perform his duties as a director of a company with due diligence.
In a statement, Singapore Police said Thilagaratnam Rajaratnam of Strategic Corporate Investments, who was found guilty in October last year, was also disqualified from serving as a director of the company for five years.
In 2014, Mr. Rajaratnam agreed to become Strategic’s sole director and shareholder for S$500 a month without participating in the company’s management or operations. He was also the sole signatory on Strategic’s bank accounts as of August 2015, and other than signing company documents, he has no involvement in Strategic’s business or affairs and has no knowledge of it. No measures were taken.
In particular, Mr. Rajaratnam was unaware that between December 2014 and September 2015, Strategic’s bank account received a total of EUR 54,718,880.76 from Wirecard AG, a German payment processor and financial services provider. It was.
The company filed for bankruptcy in Germany in June 2020 after admitting that 1.9 billion euros in cash was missing from its accounts.
Police said those funds received by Strategic were then transferred to various parties.
At the time of the crime, Mr. Rajaratnam’s brother, R. Shanmugaratnam, 58, was a director of Citadel Corporate Services Ltd., a company providing company secretarial services, whose clients include James Henry O’Sullivan. Companies were also included.
Between March 29, 2016 and April 7, 2018, Mr. Shanmugaratnam prepared seven letters from Strategic to Wirecard AG and handed them to Mr. Rajaratnam for signature.
These letters were prepared in response to a request from Wirecard AG’s auditors seeking confirmation regarding the amounts that Strategic holds in bank accounts on behalf of Wirecard AG. The letter further stated that Strategic held amounts ranging from €29,940,119.76 to €54,718,880.76 at the end of various financial years.
Police said Strategic had no such amount in its possession at the time.
Mr. Rajaratnam admitted that he signed seven letters at Mr. Shanmugaratnam’s request without making any effort to check the balances in Strategic’s bank account.
Although he did not know the purpose of the letter or the matters contained therein, he did not ask Shanmugaratnam, O’Sullivan, or any of O’Sullivan’s employees about them.
O’Sullivan is facing related charges in court for his role in Strategic issuing these letters to Wirecard AG.
Along with Mr. O’Sullivan, Mr. Shanmugaratnam has also been charged with offenses relating to a similar letter issued by Citadel to Wirecard entities, and court proceedings are ongoing.
Mr Rajaratnam’s lawyer said in court documents that he was at fault and pleaded for him to pay a S$5,000 fine, The Straits Times reported. His bail has been set at S$30,000, but Mr Rajaratnam is expected to surrender in state court on February 29 and complete his sentence.