Banks begin action in Singapore’s biggest corporate fraud

The Business Times reports German bank Bayerische Hypo-und Vereinsbank (HVB) has taken the lead by filing a claim against Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore (APBS), a subsidiary of listed Asia Pacific Breweries, to recover a US$30m loan obtained in March 2003 by the brewer\'s then-finance manager Chia Teck Leng. Three other banks – Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, which lost $45m, and Mizuho Corporate Bank, which lost US$8m and Sumitomo, which lost $10m – will file claims against APBS soon. Chia was jailed for 42 years after he gambled away $62m of the money he obtained from the banks using APBS\' name between January 1999 and March 2003. The case will be watched closely by the financial community because it puts the spotlight on international banks\' practices. Full report in The Business Times