Citadelle Corporate Services and Senjo Group under probe following Wirecard review

SINGAPORE's white-collar crime-buster and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) have launched a joint investigation into the Senjo group of companies, as well as Citadelle Corporate Services, following a review of developments relating to insolvent German payment processing company Wirecard.

The Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) and the MAS, in a joint statement on Friday, said that a review of the recent developments relating to Wirecard has given them reasons to suspect that offences may have been committed.

Citadelle Corporate Services and the Senjo group (including its units) are being investigated for suspected falsification of accounts as well as carrying on a trust business without a licence, said the statement.

Under the investigation, CAD and MAS had obtained documents and records from these companies, and had interviewed persons involved in them.

MAS said in the statement that it is aware of media reports alleging that Citadelle has handled monies for Wirecard in a trustee capacity. The provision of trust services as a business in Singapore is an activity regulated under the Trust Companies Act, MAS said.

Citadelle is not licensed to provide such services in Singapore, and is not supervised by MAS. The regulator has listed Citadelle on the Investor Alert List on its website.

MAS and the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) are collaborating with CAD to scrutinise recent developments relating to Wirecard, after the fintech company collapsed last week and admitted that US$2.1 billion of its cash probably did not exist. 

CAD has conducted a probe into Wirecard's Singapore operations since February last year, with the ACRA scrutinising other possible aspects of the case, it has been reported.