SG is financial loss/fraud/scam hub. Huat ah!

[LITTLEREDDOT]

#1

At least 70 police reports filed against Singaporean-run crypto trading platform Torque

Torque is run by Singaporean businessman Bernard Ong.
PHOTOS: TORQUESUPERWALLET.ASIA, YOUTUBE

Joyce Lim
Senior Correspondent

MAR 24, 2021

SINGAPORE - At least 70 police reports were lodged against online cryptocurrency trading platform Torque, run by Singaporean businessman Bernard Ong, with investors claiming millions lost in cryptocurrencies.

Three days before the Chinese New Year holidays last month, retail investors were told that one of Torque's employees had apparently violated the company's rules and that his unauthorised trading activities had led to significant losses in their trading accounts.

In a letter to investors, Torque Group Holdings, which is incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and owns the cryptocurrency trading platform, told investors that their accounts had been suspended to prevent further losses. Once the investigations were concluded, investors would be able to withdraw their remaining balances and have the option to close their accounts or resume trading on the platform, said Torque's chief executive Bernard Ong.

But Mr Ong subsequently applied to the BVI Courts to wind up the company.

The application was granted last week (Mar 18) and Mr Philip Smith and Mr Jason Kardachi from restructuring and insolvency specialist firm Borrelli Walsh were appointed as joint liquidators.

A preliminary review of Torque's record and investor database by Borrelli Walsh estimated creditor claims at US$325 million (S$436 million) as at March 2 (2021), while crypto assets under the control of the liquidators are valued at about US$9.1 million (S$12 million) as of Mar 14.

Mr Smith told The Straits Times that investigations were still at an early stage and he is unable to confirm yet how many of Torque's more than 14,000 investors from more than 120 countries, reside in Singapore.

Mr Ong, 33, chief executive of Torque, told ST that he has filed a police report in Singapore against the employee who, he alleges, is responsible for the losses. He said that the employee is not based in Singapore and has not been contactable.

Police confirmed reports were lodged by both Mr Ong and investors and said that they are looking into the matter.

Mr Ong said that Torque, which was incorporated in 2019, has about 80 employees based in Vietnam and Singapore, of which 20 are Singaporeans.

"The cost is too high to run a 24-hour operation in Singapore. And the reason why I registered my company in BVI is because it does not have a regulatory framework towards cryptocurrency. I wanted a place that is more friendly towards crypto space," said Mr Ong.

A search on the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority portal showed that Mr Ong is the director and shareholder of 12 companies in Singapore.

Mr Ong said: "Borrelli Walsh has taken over (the company). I am no longer in power of the company. I know that investors are frustrated and angry. As a company, we are doing all we can to help anyone and I am ready to cooperate with any authority."

In an email to ST, Mr Ong's lawyer Sarbrinder Singh of Sanders Law said the purpose of engaging Borrelli Walsh was "to trace and locate the misappropriated funds" by the employee in question, "so that the losses to Torque would be minimised".

Mr Singh added that Mr Ong has been harassed by debt collectors demanding payments for which he is not liable. He is also aware of a potential class action against Mr Ong by a group of investors.

One investor, who has 350 accounts with Torque said he was attracted to Torque's reward scheme which could reward an investor between 0.15 and 0.45 per cent of the amount traded in a day.

The investor who wanted to be known as only Mr Lim, said he opened his first account with Torque in January last year(2020) and invested US$50,000 (S$67,000) in cryptocurrency. In the past one year, he has traded a total of US$350,000 (S$470,000) in cryptocurrency with Torque.

He claimed that at one point he was getting daily rewards of about US$2,000.

The self-employed man, who is in his 30s, said he will wait for the liquidators to conclude their investigations and hoped that he could eventually withdraw his remaining balance of some US$800,000 (S$1.07 million) from his Torque account.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

#2

Singapore businessman linked to alleged fraud of record $1 billion charged

Ng Yu Zhi was charged with two counts of cheating and two of being a party to fraudulent trading on March 22, 2021.
PHOTO: HREASILY

MAR 23, 2021

SINGAPORE - A businessman charged on Monday (March 22) has been linked to an alleged fraud involving at least $1 billion, the largest in Singapore's history.
Ng Yu Zhi, 33, is the director of two firms and said to have raised the money from investors, purportedly to finance nickel trading.

The alleged victims were promised varying returns averaging 15 per cent over three months.

But the nickel trades never took place and the investors are still owed the money, the police said on Monday.

Ng, the director of Envy Asset Management (EAM) and Envy Global Trading, was charged with two counts of cheating and two of being a party to fraudulent trading involving about $48 million.

He is expected to face more charges at a later date.

Of the $1 billion invested in the companies between October 2017 and last month, about $300 million was allegedly transferred to his personal account.

The Commercial Affairs Department has seized $100 million of assets from Ng.

Neither of the firms is licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

EAM has been on its investor alert list since March last year.

The MAS said it had received public feedback that EAM claimed it was in the process of applying for a licence, even though no application had been submitted.

The prosecution asked for $3 million cash bail in addition to electronic tagging.

The court was told that Ng has family and access to assets overseas.

He has a registered company with a London bank account and significant investments in Hong Kong, London and Switzerland.

Ng also has a child with a partner who has since returned to China, and had given her high-value gifts, including several cars here.

The defence sought $1 million bail with e-tagging, citing the Ponzi scheme case of Sunshine Empire, where those accused were given bail of at most $800,000.

District Judge Terence Tay fixed bail at $1.5 million with e-tagging, and a 10pm to 6am curfew. It is believed to be the highest sum imposed since electronic monitoring was introduced as a condition of bail in 2018.

The case has been adjourned until May 17, and more charges are expected to be tendered by the prosecution. Ng is believed to be on remand.

If convicted, he could be jailed for up to 10 years and fined for each count of cheating.

For each count of fraudulent trading, he could be jailed for up to seven years, fined up to $15,000 or both.

 

[zhihau]

Wow!!! Altogether now!!! HUAT AH!!!

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

#3

CAD, MAS launch joint probe into CoAssets group companies

The joint investigation stems from complaints and feedback received from members of the public regarding suspected misconduct by CoAssets group companies.
PHOTO: ST FILE

Ovais Subhani

FEB 1, 2021

SINGAPORE - Various companies under CoAssets, a financial firm accused of misconduct by its clients, are being jointly investigated by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) of the Singapore Police Force and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for possible offences under the Penal Code and the Securities and Futures Act.

In a statement issued on Monday (Feb 1), CAD and MAS said the joint investigation, launched on Jan 12, stems from complaints and feedback received from members of the public regarding suspected misconduct by CoAssets group companies.

Hundreds of CoAssets' retail investors were left reeling in early December amid media reports that the Singapore-based alternative lending platform had transferred US$30 million (S$39.9 million) of its borrowings to a little-known debt recovery firm Sunfits.

Aggrieved investors filed police reports against CoAssets' co-founders Getty Goh and Seh Huan Kiat, and grouped together on social media channels such as Telegram to pursue legal action.

MAS said last month that it will review and take necessary action if CoAssets' licensed subsidiary - CA Funding Pte Ltd (CAFPL) - had breached regulations. Of the CoAssets group companies, only CAFPL is regulated by MAS, as a capital markets services licensee.

In March 2020, MAS issued a direction to CAFPL to prohibit the company from listing new issuances, signing up new investors and accepting subscription of securities.

These directions were issued after MAS' inspection uncovered lapses in CAFPL's credit assessment process, inadequate disclosure of information to investors, and failure to address conflicts of interests arising from dealings that the CoAssets group companies had with entities related to issuers that CAFPL had listed on its platform.

MAS had also directed CAFPL to appoint an independent external auditor to review the effectiveness of its remedial measures to address these deficiencies.
According to the statement, CAFPL informed MAS in December 2020 that it had failed to comply with the minimum base capital requirement under the SFA and intended to cease operations.

As directed by MAS, all customers' moneys held by CAFPL have since been returned to investors, Monday's joint statement said.

MAS is closely monitoring CAFPL's implementation of its cessation plan to ensure that investors are treated fairly, the statement added.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

#4

HSBC sues Lim family, saying they 'fraudulently deceived' bank into lending US$111.7 million to Hin Leong

HSBC is the first bank to take legal action against oil tycoon Lim Oon Kuin.
ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG, WONG KWAI CHOW

Grace Leong
Senior Business Correspondent

NOV 5, 2020,


SINGAPORE - HSBC Holdings is suing the Lim family and an employee of bankrupt oil trader Hin Leong Trading to recover US$85.3 million (S$115.8 million) of US$111.7 million that they allegedly obtained with bogus invoices and forged documents, according to court papers seen by The Straits Times.

HSBC, which is the firm's largest creditor with about US$600 million owing, is the first bank to take legal action against oil tycoon Lim Oon Kuin, better known as OK Lim, and his two children to recover its losses.

It is also suing Ms Serene Seng Hui Choo, a manager of the corporate affairs department at Hin Leong.

The suit filed on Oct 21 in the High Court came two months after the firm's judicial manager, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Advisory Services, sued Lim, son Evan Lim Chee Meng and daughter Lim Huey Ching, both executive directors for more than 20 years, for US$3.5 billion in outstanding debt.

PwC alleged that they breached their fiduciary duties as directors and engaged in fraudulent trading.

It also comes after the elder Lim was hit with two charges for the abetment of forgery for the purpose of cheating relating to a fake China Aviation Oil (Singapore) Corporation (CAO) cargo sale.

The fake CAO cargo sale is the subject of HSBC's lawsuit.

The Straits Times understands that if the State Courts make factual findings in the criminal proceedings related to HSBC's claims, the bank could rely on those findings to bolster its case and potentially seek judgment against the Lims.

HSBC alleged that the defendants "fraudulently deceived" the bank into lending Hin Leong US$111.7 million by signing forged invoices that were submitted to obtain discount financing earlier this year.

One sales invoice was purportedly for cargo sold to CAO for US$56 million; the other for cargo sold to Unipec Singapore for US$55.7 million.

The suit alleges that the elder Lim had instructed Hin Leong employees to "fabricate" a CAO inter-tank transfer certificate claiming that the company had transferred 1.05 million barrels of gasoil to CAO on March 18.

But Hin Leong never sold or transferred the cargo to CAO and no cargo inspection had been conducted, the suit said.

HSBC alleges that the defendants "disguised the fact that Hin Leong was insolvent" to deceive the bank into lending it money. It added that Hin Leong had suffered US$800 million in losses that were not reflected in its financial statements, and that the elder Lim had told its finance department to hide these losses from the accounts, adding that he "would be responsible if anything went wrong".

On April 9, 2020, about eight days before payment was due from CAO, Ms Seng, who was in charge of Hin Leong's finance and accounts department, allegedly told HSBC that Hin Leong "foresaw some 'issues' with repayment from CAO and Unipec".

She told HSBC that Hin Leong will be "remitting funds by way of a 'refund'... and instructed the bank to 'set off' these incoming funds".

That day, the Lim family credited US$17.5 million into Hin Leong's account with HSBC, the suit said. But on April 12, before the payment due date of these invoices, the Lims told HSBC in a teleconference that "due to a purported 'miscommunication' within Hin Leong, the financing documents had 'inadvertently'" been sent to HSBC due to an "operational error", the suit said.

They claimed the transactions with CAO and Unipec "did not go through" and apologised for the "errors".

They also agreed to "refund" HSBC, and authorised the bank to "debit any funds standing to the credit of Hin Leong's account... and to set off such funds against the amounts owing to HSBC".

Between April 13 and April 16, the Lim family credited US$7.81 million into Hin Leong's account with HSBC, of which US$4 million was transferred by Mr Evan Lim from his personal account, the suit said.

Three companies related to the Lim family have been placed under interim judicial management - Hin Leong, its shipping arm Ocean Tankers and Xihe Holdings, which is owned by Lim and his son Evan.

Hin Leong and Ocean Tankers had initially sought a six-month moratorium on debts of more than US$3.6 billion to 23 banks, but withdrew this application.

 

[kaninabuchaojibye]

greed creates demand for scams
leave your monies in cpf and ho ching saferest
don't u agree?
haaaa

 

[JustLikeThis]

'A big shock’: Retail investors in Singapore caught out by Hyflux woes
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/new...rs-in-singapore-caught-out-by-hyflux-10407930


SINGAPORE: Seen as one of Singapore’s most successful business stories, water treatment specialist Hyflux’s recent woes had come as a shock for many and for Mrs Goh, it was something that she had not seen coming. Lured by an attractive 6 per cent coupon, she had put in S$10,000 into the company’s preference shares issued in 2011 at S$100 apiece.

But uncertainties over timing and pricing remain due to a challenging market landscape, she added.

Still, a huge asset sale would definitely “loosen the noose around Hyflux’s neck” and in turn, retail investors who have been left reeling amid the uncertainty, said investment specialist S. Nallakaruppan.

These include ordinary shareholders, who are at the bottom of the priority list in a liquidation scenario, as well as holders of Hyflux’s preference shares and perpetual securities.

In particular, the latter make up a “significant and vulnerable” lot, said Mr Nallakaruppan, who sits on the executive committee of The Society of Remisiers (Singapore) as its honorary treasurer.

This is because such bond-like instruments have no maturity date and while sold with a call date, a non-call or non-payment of distribution do not constitute defaults.

Apart from the S$400 million worth of 6 per cent preference shares that Hyflux has said it would not be redeeming, causing a step-up in the coupon to 8 per cent, the firm has another tranche of 6 per cent perpetual securities worth S$500 million. This was issued in 2016 and in its announcement last month, Hyflux had said that it would not be making the coupon payment due at the end of May.

Both tranches saw strong demand when they were issued, attracting yield-hunting retail investors who subscribed through ATMs. Mr Nallakaruppan said he knew of investors who had put in S$200,000 or more, with retirees among them.

“Interests rates at the banks were just far too low and because of that, a lot of the investors were hunting for yields,” he said. “They also see Hyflux as a growth company dealing with an important resource.”

But now, they “can only hope for the best”, added Mr Nallakaruppan.

“There’s no covenant for these investors to bring an action against the company unfortunately.”

Amid the uncertainty, analysts said it may be too early to speculate over potential restructuring terms but retail investors may have to brace for some losses.

Citing how both perpetuals were trading at a discount before the suspension, Mr Ng from KGI Securities said: “Markets were already pricing in that they have to take a haircut.”

 

[CPTMiller]

So many big con cases here.
Many cash rich people not affected by covid-19 still throw money in

 

[laksaboy]

Sinkieland is the land of a thousand schemes and scams, a thousand malls and condos, a thousand acronyms and prohibitions.

Perhaps Sinkies are super trusting and that is always an indicator of a receptive target audience for conmen and conwomen. From megachurches such as CHC to jiuhu companies which claim to magically cure the eyesight of your myopic brats, Hyflux, to the more common MLMs ('business opportunities') and 'investment opportunities', CHAS cheats etc... there are opportunities galore.

P.S: Due to certain ongoing geopolitical events, Bitcoin will become almost worthless. Don't be fooled by the temporary spikes in prices now. Get out while you can, 见好就收. Otherwise there is a good chance all you true believers of Bitcoin and crypto will throw yourselves off tall buildings. Good luck!

 

[syed putra]

Looks like There is a huge untapped market of people with loads of funds out there.

 

[Scrooball (clone)]

All u need is a fancy website and some spruced up LinkedIn profile to con people. Some of the clowns are just low level sales minions working for the local banksm before they suddenly got a fancy job title such as CIO in this joke of a company. Nice car he bought by the way. Anyone wanna guess if he will sell the car to pay off the poor investors who got screwed? haha

Torque Trading CEO bought $664,000 car just before collapse
Feb.11, 2021 in companies

A clearer picture of Torque Trading’s collapse is emerging.
In the lead up to the collapse, CEO Bernard Ong was showing off high-priced purchases on social media.
Screenshots of Ong’s Instagram account reveals a late 2020 purchase of a Mclaren 600 LT.

Ong is based in Singapore. A quick search reveals the 600 LT goes for about $664,000 locally.
In addition to a fancy car, Ong also recently showed off what he claims was an expensive looking birthday gift.

Ong would later celebrate is his birthday with top Torque Trading investors and a “money cake”.

In the aftermath of Torque Trading’s collapse, Ong has made his Instagram profile private.

It goes without saying the ~$664,000 McLaren is just a snapshot of the amount Ong and his co-conspirators made off with.
Now seeking to downplay wealth extracted from Torque Trading investors, Ong put on a somber facade in a video made public yesterday.

Reading from a script, Ong (right) promises to keep Torque Trading victims updated.

We’ll be updating you daily until the situation stabilizes. With updates of our investigations and both cause of actions.
We need some time and your patience to allow us to work through this.

Rather than just admit Torque Trading was a Ponzi scheme that was running or ran out of money, Ong continues Torque Trading’s bad trades facade exit-scam.

All our resources and focus are spent on figuring out details of how this could have happened.
We’ve received over four hundred emails and the number continues to grow by (the) hour.
Our support team is responding to each email with the information we have so far.
Last night we analyzed the trade logs for the past week.
The picture remains supportive of our initial assessment, that a single senior employee took leveraged positions that ran counter with our usual marketing trading strategies.
There’s a huge amount of data to get through for the over three hundred crypto trading sub accounts, that we are currently reviewing.
We have no found any foul play, or any criminal appropriation of customer funds.
We are still scanning actively for any such evidence, and if we find any we will engage law enforcement.

Ponzi admins pretending they aren’t exit-scamming is laughable enough. Ong promising to engage law enforcement pushes it over the hilarity line.
Hi, Singapore police? Bern Ong here, CEO of the illegal Torque Trading Ponzi scheme.
I’d like to report myself and my buddies for stealing investor funds and exit-scamming.
As part of Torque Trading’s exit-scam, Ong claims backoffice balances will be slashed by 90%.
How much of the remaining 10% balance, if any all, will then be withdrawable is unclear.

I apologize that this has happened. We are doing everything we can to save your interest.
We’ll do better to regain your trust.

Ong finishes up by thanking Torque Trading victims who have purportedly sent him “messages of support”.

Singapore isn’t known for active regulation of MLM Ponzi schemes. It is unclear whether local authorities will take any action.

 

[mojito]

More sinkie entrepreneurs busted.

 

[Scrooball (clone)]

So this is the new age style of a modern-day 'bank robbery'

- set up a shit company
- set up fancy website and oversell everyone's linkedin profiles
- accumulate enough stupid ppl to invest
- when the investors dry up and cant support, pull the rug and 'claim' some rogue trader made unauthorized trades and lock up all the trading accounts to 'investigate'
- now claims investors will lose 90%!

Any idiot can tell u, if u made a loss of 90% in crypto, u must be a fucking clown. How's that even possible? 90%!

 

[mahjongking]

what's new in this scam country?
so easy to scam, I also want

root of the problem is, whatever amt u scam, get caught no rotan.....
pappies are only protecting themselves in case kena caught

 

[Hypocrite-The]

Guess the race n religion n nationality of these scammers? Hint, surnames Ong, Ng etc

 

[Hypocrite-The]

Lucky i never sign up with Torque,

 

[Scrooball (clone)]

Guess the race n religion n nationality of these scammers? Hint, surnames Ong, Ng etc

Big deal... u make it sound like scamming is exclusive to one race

 

[Hypocrite-The]

Big deal... u make it sound like scamming is exclusive to one race

Have to admit. No m&ds in this article. The resident mudslime whores n her minions must b soo happy n the ah nehs too

 

[Filloz]

MAS - you better do something. Sunshine Empire James Phang Wah is back.

James Phang accumulated over $40m of wealth in his last scam (Sunshine Empire) hidden in the names of his children, it's worth being locked up for 9 years for getting away with such money (not recovered by useless MAS). Apparently he plotted something behind bars and his proxies launched new scam regarding the churning of insurance policies. Reports were made but MAS said nothing wrong.

 

[eatshitndie]

MAS - you better do something. Sunshine Empire James Phang Wah is back.

James Phang accumulated over $40m of wealth in his last scam (Sunshine Empire) hidden in the names of his children, it's worth being locked up for 9 years for getting away with such money (not recovered by useless MAS). Apparently he plotted something behind bars and his proxies launched new scam regarding the churning of insurance policies. Reports were made but MAS said nothing wrong.

isn’t “mas” the acronym for mana ada system?