Standard Chartered faces $2.7 Billion lawsuit

Source Credit : Reuters

Liquidators trying to recover money from Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund 1MDB have sued Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore, alleging it enabled fraud that led to more than $2.7 billion in financial losses more than 10 years ago.

Standard Chartered on Tuesday said that it emphatically rejected the claims.

The move is the latest in a wide-ranging effort to recover money belonging to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), from which U.S. investigators say about $4.5 billion was stolen between 2009 and 2014 in a complex, globe-spanning scheme.

Shares in Standard Chartered fell on Tuesday and were down 2.7% by 1110 GMT, against a 0.3% drop in London's FTSE 100.

Malaysian authorities have previously said there were billions of dollars more that were unaccounted for.

Liquidators from financial services firm Kroll, which filed the lawsuit in the High Court of Singapore, said in a statement on Monday they were seeking to hold Standard Chartered accountable for its role in allegedly enabling fraud to be committed against 1MDB.

Three companies in liquidation linked to 1MDB say Standard Chartered permitted over 100 intrabank transfers between 2009 and 2013 that helped conceal the flow of stolen funds.