The logo of Wirecard AG, an independent provider of outsourcing and white label solutions for electronic payment transactions, is pictured at its headquarters in Aschheim, near Munich, Germany, Jul 1, 2020.
SINGAPORE: Singapore authorities said they have launched an investigation into Citadelle Corporate Services, Senjo Group and its subsidiaries after scrutinising collapsed German payments firm Wirecard’s local operations.
The investigation was for “suspected falsification of accounts … as well as carrying on a trust business without a licence”, the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) of the Singapore Police Force and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said in a joint statement on Friday (Jul 3).
MAS said last week it was working with the CAD and Singapore’s accounting regulator to scrutinise local operations of Wirecard, which filed for insolvency last month.
“MAS is aware of media reports alleging that Citadelle has handled monies for Wirecard in a trustee capacity,” it said.
“The provision of trust services as a business in Singapore is an activity regulated by MAS under the Trust Companies Act. Citadelle is not licensed to provide trust business services in Singapore, and is not supervised by MAS.”
MAS added that it has listed Citadelle on its investor alert list, a list of unregulated persons who may have been wrongly perceived as being licensed or regulated by MAS.
