Call us +44 (0) 1534 626830
Home News 16 & 7-Year Prohibitions: MAS Purges Convicted Relationship Managers from Financial Sector
News
Print Article

16 & 7-Year Prohibitions: MAS Purges Convicted Relationship Managers from Financial Sector

18/03/2026

Singapore, March 18, 2026.

  • The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued prohibition orders on March 17, 2026, under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022, barring two former private banking relationship managers from any involvement in the regulated financial sector.
  • The action stems from their convictions arising from the landmark August 2023 S$3 billion (approximately US$2.2 billion) money-laundering scandal.

Wang Qiming, formerly a relationship manager at Citibank Singapore, received a 16-year prohibition order.

  • On October 23, 2025, he was convicted on four charges: two counts of forgery under the Penal Code (to cheat Citibank), one count of money laundering involving S$481,678 tied to convicted launderer Su Baolin, and one count of obstructing justice by deleting WhatsApp communications with clients.
  • He was sentenced to 24 months' imprisonment, with six additional charges considered (including further forgery, conspiracy to forge loan documents, and lying to immigration officers).

Liu Kai (also known as Kelvin Liu Kai), formerly a relationship manager at Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd., was issued a 7-year prohibition order.

  • On October 24, 2025, he pleaded guilty to one count of using a forged document (a falsified Chinese tax document) to cheat his employer and to opening and maintaining accounts linked to convicted money launderers, such as Lin Baoying, in 2020.
  • He was sentenced to 4 months' imprisonment.

As client-facing gatekeepers, relationship managers handle onboarding high-net-worth individuals and monitor for suspicious activity.

  • Their misconduct, facilitating illicit flows through forged documents, suspicious transactions (e.g., Wang arranging cryptocurrency sales and cash collections tied to illegal gambling), and evasion of AML checks, exposed vulnerabilities in private banking due diligence.
  • This contributed to earlier MAS penalties against banks such as Citibank and Julius Baer, as well as industry-wide AML reforms.

The prohibition orders, effective immediately, comprehensively bar both individuals (both Chinese nationals, Wang, aged around 27-28, Liu, around 36-37) from:

  • Carrying on or providing any MAS-regulated or authorised activity or business.
  • Participating (directly or indirectly) in the management of any financial institution.
  • Acting as a director, partner, or manager of any financial institution.
  • Becoming or increasing their stake as a substantial shareholder in any financial institution.

MAS cited the gravity of their failures to meet "fit and proper" standards, emphasising individual accountability to protect Singapore's financial integrity and reputation as a transparent hub.

The 2023 scandal involved 10 foreign nationals (mostly Chinese) arrested for laundering proceeds from online gambling, scams, and transnational crimes, with authorities seizing luxury properties, supercars, gold bars, and cash.

This latest enforcement action demonstrates MAS's ongoing commitment to addressing risks and builds on prior actions against institutions and individuals following one of Asia's most high-profile AML operations.

Sources  

MONEY LAUNDERING LEGAL

The Team

Meet the team of industry experts behind Comsure

Find out more

Latest News

Keep up to date with the very latest news from Comsure

Find out more

Gallery

View our latest imagery from our news and work

Find out more

Contact

Think we can help you and your business? Chat to us today

Get In Touch

News Disclaimer

As well as owning and publishing Comsure's copyrighted works, Comsure wishes to use the copyright-protected works of others. To do so, Comsure is applying for exemptions in the UK copyright law. There are certain very specific situations where Comsure is permitted to do so without seeking permission from the owner. These exemptions are in the copyright sections of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended)[www.gov.UK/government/publications/copyright-acts-and-related-laws]. Many situations allow for Comsure to apply for exemptions. These include 1] Non-commercial research and private study, 2] Criticism, review and reporting of current events, 3] the copying of works in any medium as long as the use is to illustrate a point. 4] no posting is for commercial purposes [payment]. (for a full list of exemptions, please read here www.gov.uk/guidance/exceptions-to-copyright]. Concerning the exceptions, Comsure will acknowledge the work of the source author by providing a link to the source material. Comsure claims no ownership of non-Comsure content. The non-Comsure articles posted on the Comsure website are deemed important, relevant, and newsworthy to a Comsure audience (e.g. regulated financial services and professional firms [DNFSBs]). Comsure does not wish to take any credit for the publication, and the publication can be read in full in its original form if you click the articles link that always accompanies the news item. Also, Comsure does not seek any payment for highlighting these important articles. If you want any article removed, Comsure will automatically do so on a reasonable request if you email info@comsuregroup.com.  
×

As well as owning and publishing Comsure's copyrighted works, Comsure wishes to use the copyright-protected works of others. To do so, Comsure is applying for exemptions in the UK copyright law. There are certain very specific situations where Comsure is permitted to do so without seeking permission from the owner. These exemptions are in the copyright sections of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended)[www.gov.UK/government/publications/copyright-acts-and-related-laws]. Many situations allow for Comsure to apply for exemptions. These include 1] Non-commercial research and private study, 2] Criticism, review and reporting of current events, 3] the copying of works in any medium as long as the use is to illustrate a point. 4] no posting is for commercial purposes [payment]. (for a full list of exemptions, please read here www.gov.uk/guidance/exceptions-to-copyright]. Concerning the exceptions, Comsure will acknowledge the work of the source author by providing a link to the source material. Comsure claims no ownership of non-Comsure content. The non-Comsure articles posted on the Comsure website are deemed important, relevant, and newsworthy to a Comsure audience (e.g. regulated financial services and professional firms [DNFSBs]). Comsure does not wish to take any credit for the publication, and the publication can be read in full in its original form if you click the articles link that always accompanies the news item. Also, Comsure does not seek any payment for highlighting these important articles. If you want any article removed, Comsure will automatically do so on a reasonable request if you email info@comsuregroup.com.  

news disclaimer -

As well as owning and publishing Comsure's copyrighted works, Comsure wishes to use the copyright-protected works of others. To do so, Comsure is applying for exemptions in the UK copyright law. There are certain very specific situations where Comsure is permitted to do so without seeking permission from the owner. These exemptions are in the copyright sections of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended)[www.gov.UK/government/publications/copyright-acts-and-related-laws]. Many situations allow for Comsure to apply for exemptions. These include 1] Non-commercial research and private study, 2] Criticism, review and reporting of current events, 3] the copying of works in any medium as long as the use is to illustrate a point. 4] no posting is for commercial purposes [payment]. (for a full list of exemptions, please read here www.gov.uk/guidance/exceptions-to-copyright]. Concerning the exceptions, Comsure will acknowledge the work of the source author by providing a link to the source material. Comsure claims no ownership of non-Comsure content. The non-Comsure articles posted on the Comsure website are deemed important, relevant, and newsworthy to a Comsure audience (e.g. regulated financial services and professional firms [DNFSBs]). Comsure does not wish to take any credit for the publication, and the publication can be read in full in its original form if you click the articles link that always accompanies the news item. Also, Comsure does not seek any payment for highlighting these important articles. If you want any article removed, Comsure will automatically do so on a reasonable request if you email info@comsuregroup.com.