SINGAPORE, Aug 15 (Reuters) - A Singapore court on

Thursday charged two former bankers for helping a group of

foreigners who were convicted of laundering $2.2 billion last

year in the biggest such financial crime in the Asian financial

hub.

Both Wang Qiming and Liu Kai were relationship managers and

Chinese nationals employed by Citibank and Swiss private bank

Julius Baer, according to a Singapore Police Force statement and

the court documents.

Wang, 26, faces 10 charges, including laundering almost

S$500,000 ($379,708) and forging loan documents. Liu, 35, was

charged with using a forged Chinese tax document to help one of

the convicted money launderers open a Julius Baer bank account

in Switzerland, the court documents showed.

Julius Baer and the lawyers of the two men did not

immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a statement, Citibank said: "The individual in question

has not been in our employ since April 2022. We do not comment

on matters that are before the courts."

Last August, authorities conducted simultaneous raids and

arrested 10 foreigners holding multiple passports in a case that

captivated the city-state because of the staggeringly large

amount of money, cars, luxury goods and properties involved.

The 10 convicted money launderers were sentenced to jail

terms of between 13 and 17 months, and were deported and barred

from re-entering Singapore after completing their sentences.

The case has prompted reforms that include making it easier

to prosecute money laundering cases.

Authorities have also set up an inter-ministerial panel to

review the anti-money laundering process and inspect financial

institutions suspected of involvement.

In June, the government said Singapore's banking sector

poses the highest money laundering risk in the city-state.

($1 = 1.3170 Singapore dollars)