THE Singapore High Court has granted applications involving several British Virgin Islands-incorporated entities allegedly linked to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, marking a further development in international efforts to recover assets tied to the multibillion-dollar fraud case.
The ruling was announced by Angela Barkhouse and Toni Shukla of Kroll Limited, who are acting as foreign representatives and joint liquidators for the entities concerned.
According to Barkhouse and Shukla, the decision followed an earlier ruling by the Singapore High Court dismissing attempts by BSI Bank and Standard Chartered to intervene in the winding-up applications.
“We are pleased that the application has been allowed by the Singapore High Court. The decision follows an earlier ruling by the Singapore High Court which dismissed attempts by BSI Bank and Standard Chartered to intervene in the winding-up application on the grounds that both banks lacked legal standing, and they were also ordered to pay costs.
“This is a positive development in efforts to ensure that financial institutions and individuals are held accountable for their roles in the large-scale fraud involving 1MDB.
“The latest decision by the Singapore court will enable the court-appointed liquidators to take full action against parties who facilitated fraudulent acts against the companies involved,” they said in a statement issued today.
Following the winding-up order, the liquidators said statutory demands against Standard Chartered Bank Singapore and BSI Singapore would be filed in the near future.
They added that the statutory claims would proceed alongside ongoing legal actions against the banks, including allegations of dishonest assistance, breaches of banking duties to exercise reasonable skill and care, and possible breaches of banking mandates involving companies now under liquidation proceedings in Singapore.
“The primary objective of these actions is to recover assets from individuals and institutions believed to have been involved in the misappropriation of company funds, which were originally intended for the benefit of the Malaysian people but were instead diverted,” the liquidators said.
The latest ruling is expected to intensify scrutiny of financial institutions alleged to have played a role in transactions connected to the global 1MDB scandal, one of the largest financial fraud cases in modern history. - May 16, 2026
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