A man out on bail pending appeal of his conviction in a case linked to the collapsed German payments company Wirecard had his bail revoked on March 11 after authorities believed he was planning to flee the country.
Wirecard Case: Bail Revoked for James O’Sullivan
Briton James Henry O’Sullivan, 51, is now in remand and appeared in court via video link from the Central Police Division. He was sentenced to 6½ years’ jail in January after being convicted of five counts of falsification of accounts linked to Wirecard, but was released on $300,000 bail pending his appeal.
O’Sullivan was arrested on March 9, as he was believed to have broken, or was likely to break, his bail conditions, according to Deputy Public Prosecutor Gordon Oh.
Conditions of his bail included not committing any offenses and surrendering his travel documents. A review of O’Sullivan’s mobile phone, seized on March 9, revealed images of two passports bearing his name and photograph: a Republic of Vanuatu passport and a United Kingdom passport. The UK passport had a different passport number than the one previously impounded by the Commercial Affairs Department since 2020.
Browser tabs and bookmarks on his devices also showed research on accommodation in Vanuatu, and inquiries regarding extradition to Singapore. Prosecutors argued this demonstrated an intent to abscond, noting O’Sullivan has no ties to Singapore.
O’Sullivan’s lawyer, Tito Shane Isaac, stated he needed time to take instructions from his client. He did not consent to the bail revocation.
District Judge Ng Cheng Thiam revoked O’Sullivan’s bail, citing evidence suggesting he is a flight risk. The case will be mentioned again in court on March 18.
O’Sullivan and Singaporean R. Shanmugaratnam, 59, were found guilty of offenses linked to Wirecard in September 2025. Shanmugaratnam was convicted of 13 counts of falsification of accounts linked to nearly €1.1 billion (S$1.6 billion) and sentenced to 10 years’ jail. O’Sullivan abetted Shanmugaratnam in issuing five of the letters in March 2017.
The court previously heard that from 2016 to 2018, Shanmugaratnam, a former director of Citadelle Corporate Services, issued 13 balance confirmation letters falsely confirming that Citadelle held nearly €1.1 billion in escrow for Wirecard entities. Escrow is a financial arrangement where a neutral third party holds money or assets on behalf of two parties.
Wirecard filed for bankruptcy in 2020 after disclosing that €1.9 billion in cash, supposedly held in bank accounts in the Philippines, did not exist.
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