"The employee has been put on leave until the end of the investigation," Chief Executive Markus Braun told Reuters, saying the move was a standard procedure.

Singapore police opened inquiries last month following investigative reports by the Financial Times, which cited the preliminary findings of an investigation by law firm Rajah & Tann that found evidence of series offences of forgery and false accounting.

Braun rejected the allegations, saying an internal investigation had found them to be invalid.

"We are very optimistic as far as the outcome of the external investigation is concerned," he said, adding that he expected the findings to be published soon.

(Reporting by Joern Poltz; Writing by Caroline Copley; Editing by Jan Harvey)