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1 billion in alleged fraud case (Former: Fat boy screwed her of S$48 million)

Ng

Ng
Photographer: Juliana Tan for Bloomberg Businessweek

Businessweek - The Big Take

The Billion-Dollar Nickel-Swap Scandal That Shocked Singapore​

Singaporeans invested a billion dollars in Ng Yu Zhi’s nickel-trading company. He’s accused of taking the money and skipping the nickel.
By Matthew Campbell and Chanyaporn Chanjaroen
February 11, 2022

Not long after the novel coronavirus arrived in Singapore, forcing the hyperconnected city-state to shut its borders for the first time, a rumor circulated among its many wealthy people—and among others who weren’t so well-off. A little-known investment manager was apparently delivering an astonishing 15% quarterly profit to anyone who invested with him, by trading nickel.

As word spread, more and more Singaporeans clamored to give their money to the investment manager, a 34-year-old ex-accountant named Ng Yu Zhi. Soon Ng’s fund, Envy Group, had raised almost S$1.5 billion ($1.1 billion) from hundreds of clients. He certainly seemed to be making good on the hype, returning steady gains quarter after quarter and giving every appearance of great success, with a mansion in one of Asia’s most expensive neighborhoods, a 126-foot yacht, and a fleet of luxury cars.

Trusting Ng would prove to be catastrophic. Singapore police arrested him last February and accused him of running perhaps the largest scam, in terms of dollars lost, in the small country’s history. According to police and forensic accountants appointed to examine Ng’s books, the trades he claimed to be making had simply never occurred. Instead, they say, he was engaged in an elaborate fraud, transferring S$475 million of investors’ money to himself and using it to enjoy a lifestyle that was lavish even by the standards of the setting for Crazy Rich Asians. Ng has yet to enter a plea in response to the 75 charges against him, and he declined to provide a comment for this story, citing ongoing police investigations.

relates to The Billion-Dollar Nickel-Swap Scandal That Shocked Singapore

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Source: DEEPOL/plainpicture

His clients included some of Singapore’s most successful citizens: senior lawyers, former bank executives, and businesspeople who should have known better than to invest in what appears, in retrospect, to have been a Ponzi scheme, and not a particularly sophisticated one. They weren’t the only people who failed to ask enough questions. According to legal filings, Ng made more than a thousand transfers from Envy’s corporate and investor funds to bank accounts he likely controlled, misappropriating hundreds of millions of dollars before being stopped.

Investment scams occur all over the world and can last far longer than Envy survived; Bernie Madoff ran a giant Ponzi scheme under the noses of investors and regulators for decades. Still, the allegations against Ng are awkward for Singapore, which is navigating a sensitive national transition. With its stable politics, relatively open borders, and respected legal system, the city is closer than ever to displacing Hong Kong as Asia’s main financial center, a development that would turbocharge its already robust economy. Yet despite Singapore’s orderly reputation, it’s seen more than its share of high-profile scandals in recent years, including the collapse of Noble Group Ltd., a commodity trading company accused of cooking its books, and an alleged fraud at Hyflux Ltd., a water utility that entered a court-mandated debt restructuring in 2018, infuriating retail investors.

To some in the city, the apparent ease with which Ng operated suggests that its authorities need to keep a closer eye on the rising tide of cash that’s sloshing in. “I absolutely think Singapore needs to step up its enforcement and oversight of white-collar crime,” says Mak Yuen Teen, a professor of accounting at the National University of Singapore Business School. In the Envy case, “there were many red flags indicating possible fraud. So we have to ask, ‘Where were the circuit breakers?’ ”

relates to The Billion-Dollar Nickel-Swap Scandal That Shocked Singapore

Ng incorporated Envy Group in 2015 and decided to focus on nickel.
Photographer: Juliana Tan for Bloomberg Businessweek

Until a few years ago, little about Ng would have marked him as bound for the world of high finance. Soft-spoken and unfailingly polite, with a round, full face, he studied accounting at one of Singapore’s public universities then joined audit firm KPMG LLP. One of the main clients he worked with was BHP Group, the world’s largest mining company, and Ng found that he was fascinated by the metals business, with its huge, liquid markets, real-world industrial needs, and 24/7 volatility. He began trading commodities on the side, and in 2015 he left KPMG to develop his interest into a full-time career.

It was a fortuitous moment to start a trading company. Global commodity prices had declined by roughly half from their 2008 peak, offering the potential for huge profits to anyone with the courage and capital to ride them back up. And there were few better places to do it than Singapore. Always a busy regional hub, the city was emerging as a global financial contender, attracting investments not only from other parts of Southeast Asia but increasingly from India, China, and beyond. Everyone seemed to want a piece of its success. Over the next several years, billionaires including Ray Dalio and Sergey Brin would open local offices to invest their personal wealth; British vacuum-cleaner tycoon James Dyson also set up one and spent a reported S$74 million on a five-bedroom downtown penthouse.

Ng incorporated Envy Group in 2015, taking its name from a slightly cringey line KPMG used in its training sessions: that the company’s goal was to be “the envy” of other accounting providers. He decided to focus on nickel, which was an unusual strategy for a small commodities outfit. The trade was dominated by a handful of well-connected operators, making it challenging to build a business from scratch. But Ng saw nickel as seriously undervalued, with markets failing to price in its growing utility: It’s so crucial to rechargeable batteries that Tesla Inc. co-founder Elon Musk once asked suppliers to “please mine more.”

Business was excellent, as far as anyone outside of Envy could tell. Nickel prices went on a bull run for most of the second half of the 2010s, and Ng steadily expanded his client list, sometimes with help from Veronica Shim, a successful wealth manager who was impressed enough by Ng that she invested with him herself and offered Envy’s trades to her own clients.

Singapore is a flashy place. On Orchard Road, the main shopping drag, chauffeur-driven Bentleys pull up outside flagship stores for the likes of Harry Winston and Dolce & Gabbana; at the waterfront Marina Bay Sands casino, high rollers can wager millions before retiring to a 6,400-square-foot “Chairman Suite” on the 53rd floor. But even in a city where the rich delight in showing off their success, Ng stood out. Envy operated from a luxuriously appointed office, arranged around a fully stocked bar from which visitors might be offered a glass of 21-year-old Hibiki whisky, a Japanese treasure that can sell for more than S$200 per pour. Ng liked to meet clients and colleagues at top-drawer sushi restaurants, roaring between engagements in vehicles from a fleet that included a Ferrari, a Lamborghini, and Singapore’s only Pagani Huayra supercar, which he’d spent more than S$7 million to buy.

relates to The Billion-Dollar Nickel-Swap Scandal That Shocked Singapore

Cai on the cover of Prestige.

His home life was no less luxurious. Ng and his Chinese-born wife, Coco Cai, rented a mansion near the lush Botanic Gardens, and he was in the process of buying two others. The pandemic hardly dented their lifestyle. In December 2020, she told Prestige, an Asian society magazine, how a team of salespeople from Italian jewelry brand Bulgari had come to their home to present a “curated selection” of new pieces “flown in specially for her.” Cai bought four.

Ng did little marketing, but news of the outsize returns he was delivering to investors was spreading, discussed at birthday parties and on golf courses or passed between yacht owners at the Sentosa Cove marina, where Singapore’s super rich keep their vessels. In turn, more and more members of the city’s financial elite sought to entrust him with their money. From Pek Siok Lan, the general counsel of state investment company Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd., came S$5.6 million. Arun Murthy, former global head of commodities at Standard Chartered Plc, put in a little less than S$1 million. Finian Tan, one of Singapore’s most prominent venture capitalists, was a major backer; he and partners invested a total of S$26 million.

Few, if any, were perturbed by a March 2020 decision by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the nation’s main market watchdog, to place Envy on its “investor alert list,” which flags companies that may be “wrongly perceived as being licensed or regulated by MAS,” and thus appear to be safer. One Envy investor, who asked not to be identified discussing his loss, says it didn’t seem like a major concern: Dozens of funds are placed on the list each year. Nor did it stop hundreds of less wealthy investors, including restaurateurs and doctors, small-business owners and retirees, from giving Ng their money, swelling the total handed over to Envy to almost S$1.5 billion by early 2021. In a city where so many people seemed to be finding ways to get rich, why shouldn’t they?

Put simply, Envy had almost never bought any of the nickel it claimed to be trading

The tropical sun was barely over the horizon when a team of officers from the Commercial Affairs Department, the antifraud unit of the Singapore Police Force, arrived at Ng’s mansion last Feb. 16. He was already up, preparing to send his daughter to school. The officers let him shower and change before taking him to gather documents from Envy’s office and then to a police station.

It turned out Ng had been on investigators’ radar for at least several months. The MAS had received tips about Envy’s operations in mid-2020 and referred the matter to the police later that year. Once Ng was in custody, officers held him for more than two days, questioning him at length about Envy’s operations. After his release, according to people familiar with the matter who asked to remain anonymous in order to describe private conversations, Ng told staff and investors that his detention was the result of a misunderstanding—one that might result, at most, in a slap on the wrist for Envy. Many believed him, one of the people says. Ng appeared more relaxed about the police’s interest in Envy than most of his employees, giving every impression he had little to worry about.

That outward calm was shattered on March 22, when prosecutors filed their first criminal charges against Ng, accusing him of channeling S$300 million of investor money to his own accounts. (Subsequent legal filings pushed the alleged total to just under a half-billion Singapore dollars.) The charges outlined the broad strokes of what police and, later, a team of court-appointed accountants from Ng’s alma mater, KPMG, concluded was an audacious but simple fraud. Put simply, Envy had almost never bought any of the nickel it claimed to be trading, and the returns investors thought they were receiving were in fact drawn from new clients’ deposits—a classic Ponzi structure. Indeed, Poseidon Nickel Ltd., the Australian mining concern that Ng told investors he was sourcing the metal from, informed KPMG auditors that it had “no business relationship” with Envy and had never entered any transaction with it.

When they looked over Envy’s purported contracts with Poseidon, the accountants, led by Bob Yap, one of Singapore’s best-known restructuring specialists, noticed what they dryly described in an update for the court as “numerous irregularities” in the documents. For one thing, the name of a “director” whose signature appeared on two contracts on behalf of the Australian company did “not appear to match the initials or names of any of Poseidon’s directors in the relevant period.”

Meanwhile, according to the auditors, investor money was being moved in tranches of S$200,000 to accounts likely controlled by Ng, sometimes in dozens of wire transfers per day. Two of Singapore’s major banks, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. and United Overseas Bank Ltd., were concerned enough by Ng’s activities to close his accounts well before his arrest. Other lenders, including DBS Group Holdings Ltd. and HSBC Holdings Plc, filed suspicious-transaction reports with the authorities but continued doing business with him. DBS and HSBC declined to comment on Ng’s accounts; spokespeople for both lenders said that they have comprehensive systems for flagging suspicious transactions and cooperate fully with law enforcement. An MAS spokesperson said in a statement that the agency expects banks to “implement robust measures to monitor for suspicious transactions” and would take action against firms that fell short of regulatory requirements.

As they dug further, investigators concluded that everything about the nickel deals had been faked, and not especially well. In communications with investors, Envy had said it was selling cargoes to a trading operation called BNP Paribas Commodity Futures Ltd., a London-based unit of the French bank. But U.K. corporate records indicated that this entity had ceased operations in February 2019. Envy’s records nonetheless contained 11 trading statements from after that date—documents that would have to have been forged.

The investigation did find that Envy had conducted one genuine nickel deal. In July and August of 2020, the company spent S$42 million to buy more than 2,000 metric tons of the commodity from Raffemet Pte Ltd., a large trading house. Ng went to a local warehouse to inspect the load, with colleagues recording a video of him looking over loads of nickel pellets. Envy sent the video to its investors, then sold the nickel right back to Raffemet.

relates to The Billion-Dollar Nickel-Swap Scandal That Shocked Singapore

The cityscape at dusk.
Source: Anekoho/Agefoto

Ng is awaiting trial in somewhat more straitened conditions than he enjoyed before his arrest. Out on S$4 million bail—one of the largest in Singapore history—he’s swapped his mansion for a serviced apartment. After recent court hearings, he’s departed not in a souped-up sports car but an Audi sedan. He’ll soon face a difficult choice. If he opts to contest the charges against him, he could remain free for years, albeit without the ability to leave Singapore, as the case winds its way through the courts. If he pleads guilty, he’ll likely receive a lengthy sentence, though one that’s shorter than the 20-year maximum he’d probably face if convicted at trial.
The broader damage of Envy’s collapse is still being tallied. Several investors who asked not to be identified in order to avoid being publicly associated with Envy say they don’t expect to recover the bulk of what they lost. It’s not clear how much will be raised from ongoing sales of Ng’s assets, including cars, art, and jewelry. The same is true of a lawsuit filed against him by the KPMG auditors, who are seeking more than S$500 million in damages.

Whatever the ultimate financial cost, the Envy scandal will nudge along efforts to prevent fraud in Singapore as it becomes a more important global hub. Ravi Menon, managing director of the MAS, acknowledged not long before Ng’s arrest that detecting financial irregularities is “an area that needs to be addressed.” The national stock exchange recently expanded its enforcement mechanisms, making it mandatory for public companies to institute whistleblower policies and giving itself the power to require a director or executive to resign. Other proposals would give regulators more tools to ensure that accounting companies comply with anti-money-laundering regulations.

But even the most finely tuned regulatory systems can be frustrated by a sufficiently audacious swindler, especially one that’s in tune with the psychological needs of his marks. To win the confidence of so many sophisticated people, Ng appears to have grafted the timeless appeal of get-rich-quick schemes onto a more particular desire: to share in the spoils of a city rising faster than almost any other. Above all, Ng’s investors “trusted the individual,” says Chenthil Kumarasingam, a partner at the law firm Withers KhattarWong, who advises on white-collar crime but wasn’t involved in the Envy case. “He made a very good show of living a lifestyle that everybody aspired to.” —With Joyce Koh and Yoolim Lee

W
 
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Errr... any bro here knows of Ng 's profile ?

cant find a Wikipedia on him ...


kamsia , thank you :D


Shiok
 

Luxury cars among $100m of assets seized from Envy director involved in alleged $1b fraud​

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Industry sources valued Ng's Pagani Huayra - the only one in Singapore - at between $7 million and $8 million. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
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Joyce Lim
Senior Correspondent

APR 1, 2021

SINGAPORE - A multimillion-dollar Pagani Huayra supercar owned by beleaguered businessman Ng Yu Zhi was among the $100 million worth of assets seized by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD), The Straits Times understands.
Ng, the 33-year-old director of Envy Asset Management and Envy Global Trading, was charged last week with two counts of cheating fund management firm Envysion Wealth Management and its chief executive, Ms Shim Wai Han, of at least $48 million.
Ng also faces two charges of being a party to his two firms, which were operated for fraudulent purposes.
At least $1 billion is believed to have been invested with Ng's two firms to purportedly finance nickel trading, making this one of the largest financial fraud cases in Singapore.
Industry sources valued Ng's Pagani Huayra - the only one in Singapore - at between $7 million and $8 million. A brand new one would cost about $12 million.
ST understands that the car was previously owned by Mr Steven Goh, chief executive of Ossia International.
The rare Italian supercar, which was first registered in 2017, was showcased at Envy Motors' showroom, according to the company's Facebook post in October 2019.

Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra) records showed Ng as a director of the car dealership from 2018. He was a shareholder of Envy Motors from May 22, 2018, to Oct 30, 2019.
Acra records also showed that Ng was involved in Swag EV, which deals with electric scooters, where Ms Shim of Envysion Wealth is also a director. Ng ceased his directorship with Swag EV earlier this month.
ST understands that Ng's Porsche 911 GT3 was also seized.


Ng's Ferrari 488 Pista Spider and a Toyota Lexus LS500, which came with one of the most sought-after vehicle number plates, S11T, had been sold.
A used car dealer who asked not to be named confirmed that he had bought the Toyota Lexus and the vehicle number plate.
Ng had apparently paid several hundred thousands of dollars for the car and number plate from the same dealer previously.
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The Pagani Huayra supercar was showcased at Envy Motors' showroom, according to the company's Facebook post in October 2019. PHOTO: ENVY MOTORS/FACEBOOK
Envy Global Trading said in a statement posted on its website last week that Ng had been removed as managing director of the company.
It said an interim management committee had been set up "to ensure we continue to work to meet our obligations to clients in full cooperation with the authorities".
Ng and the company have separately appointed lawyers to protect their interests.
He is expected to face more charges next month.
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.
He also has a child with a partner who has returned to China, and he had given her high-value gifts, including several cars here.
Of the $1 billion invested in the companies between October 2017 and February this year, about $300 million was allegedly transferred to Ng's personal account.
If convicted, Ng 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.
 

Nickel trading firm in alleged billion-dollar fraud sued for $50m, group placed under interim judicial management​

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Ng Yu Zhi is accused of involvement in deceiving investors into putting at least $1 billion into nickel deals that never took place. PHOTOS: KELVIN CHNG, REUTERS
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Joyce Lim
Senior Correspondent

MAY 4, 2021

SINGAPORE - At least four lawsuits have been filed in court by investors seeking to claim some $50 million from Envy Global Trading and its director Ng Yu Zhi.
The nickel trading firm and Ng, 33, have been linked to the alleged fraud of a record $1 billion.
Last Tuesday (April 27), the High Court granted applications by the Envy group of companies - Envy Global Trading, Envy Asset Management and Envy Management Holdings - for the group to be placed under interim judicial management.
Mr Bob Yap, Mr Martin Wong and Ms Toh Ai Ling of KPMG were jointly and severally appointed as interim judicial managers for the Envy group.
Mr Yap, a partner and head of restructuring at KPMG in Singapore, told The Straits Times that their immediate focus is to conduct an inquiry into the Envy group's affairs, business and property, with a view to preparing a report for the Court within four weeks of April 27 as to whether the objectives of judicial management will be achievable.
"At this juncture, it is still preliminary to provide any information," said Mr Yap.
Ng, who is also the director of Envy Asset Management and Envy Management Holdings, is accused of involvement in deceiving investors into putting at least $1 billion into nickel deals that never took place. He has been charged with at least 11 counts of cheating, fraudulent trading and forgery.

In the latest charges in April, Ng was accused of fabricating two electronic records - one of a US$60 million ($79.5 million) bank transfer and the other, US$302 million, which was purportedly the balances of his company's bank account.
Between September 2020 and February 2021, he allegedly deceived five individuals into purchasing some receivables from Envy Global Trading's purported sale of nickel to a firm named Raffemet, but there was no such transaction.
The individuals paid sums ranging from $750,000 to $4.4 million. In total, they were cheated of almost $9 million.

In one of the four civil suits filed, construction firm Debenho and the firm's managing director Low Teck Dee are seeking to recover $23.13 million from Envy Global Trading and Ng.
The plaintiffs claimed to have entered into five receivables purchase agreements with Envy Global Trading between November 2020 and January 2021.
The agreements stated that Debenho or Mr Low agreed to purchase a certain percentage of Envy Global Trading's total trade receivables from Raffemet.
Trade receivables are the amounts owed to a business by its customers following the sale of goods or services on credit.
The plaintiffs claimed to have paid a total of $20.1 million to Envy Global Trading for the trade receivables with expected returns of over $3 million.

In court documents seen by ST, the plaintiffs claimed that Ng was the "controlling mind and alter ego" of Envy Global Trading. The receivables purchase agreements were allegedly authorised, directed and procured by Ng.
The plaintiffs, who were represented by Mr Alfred Lim and Ms Jaime Lye of Fullerton Law Chambers, said the payments were made in reliance on the truth of the representations by Ng.
Envy Global Trading was represented by lawyers from Quahe Woo & Palmer, and Ng was represented by Davinder Singh Chambers.
The Commercial Affairs Department has seized about $100 million of assets from Ng, who is currently out on bail of $1.5 million.
He also has to continue wearing an electronic tag, and comply with a 10pm to 6am curfew.
Ng's bail is believed to be the highest sum imposed since electronic monitoring was introduced as a condition of bail in 2018.
 

Envy nickel trading boss alarmed some banks in Singapore long before his arrest​

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Ng Yu Zhi allegedly misappropriated at least $201 million from Envy Global Trading's account at DBS. PHOTOS: REUTERS, KELVIN CHNG

JUL 9, 2021

SINGAPORE (BLOOMBERG) - The trader charged with orchestrating what police describe as one of Singapore's biggest suspected investment frauds began setting off alarm bells at banks more than a year before his arrest in February, according to people familiar with the matter.
Ng Yu Zhi's unusually large cash transfers from his trading company to his personal account prompted Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp to file suspicious transaction reports to police as far back as 2019, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. The bank shut his personal account in August 2020. Ng's corporate account at United Overseas Bank was closed more than a year before the 34-year-old was arrested, one of the people said.
The previously unreported timeline raises fresh questions about how Ng could have maintained an alleged $1.46 billion fraud for so long.
Even as OCBC and UOB cut ties with the trader, other banks including DBS Group Holdings and CIMB Group Holdings still had relationships with him at the time he was charged, people familiar with the matter said. Ng continued accepting money from wealthy Singaporeans until his arrest, enticing them with purported investment gains that averaged 15 per cent a quarter.
Prosecutors and court-appointed judicial managers of Ng's companies allege that he was in fact fabricating trades and misappropriating client money to finance a $2-million-a-month spending habit that included private jet travel, a personal butler and nightclub outings. All told, Ng funnelled about $475 million from his companies - Envy Asset Management and Envy Global Trading - into his personal accounts, according to an interim report from the judicial managers.
Ng's case has riveted Singapore's moneyed elite and thrust a spotlight on the challenges of developing effective early warning systems for fraud even in the most advanced financial centres. Assets under management in Singapore swelled by 17 per cent last year to a record US$3.5 trillion (S$4.74 trillion).
Ng, who has been out on bail, has yet to enter a plea and his lawyer didn't respond to an e-mail seeking comment. "It is inappropriate to comment on ongoing police investigations," a spokesman for Singapore's police department said.

Spokesmen for CIMB and OCBC declined to comment on Ng's accounts. Ms Loretta Yuen, OCBC's group head of legal and regulatory compliance, said transactions that are found to be suspicious or unusual are reported to the authorities.
A DBS spokesman said the bank maintains "robust systems" and controls to identify and report suspicious transactions. "We cooperate fully with law enforcement efforts, and this includes account freezing and property seizures," the spokesman said. "As a matter of policy, we do not comment on cases under investigation."

Corporate accounts​

DBS filed suspicious transaction reports (STRs) to Singapore police on Ng's corporate accounts and was in the process of closing them before he was arrested, a person familiar with the matter said. Ng allegedly misappropriated at least $201 million from Envy Global Trading's account at DBS, according to charge sheets seen by Bloomberg.


HSBC Holdings, where Ng had a personal account, also filed STRs between 2019 and 2020, a person familiar said. The police later froze Ng's personal account at HSBC, people familiar with the matter said, without specifying when that happened.
An HSBC spokesman declined to comment on Ng's accounts but said the bank has measures in place to spot suspicious transactions. An UOB representative declined to comment.
A spokesman for Malayan Banking, which is listed in the judicial managers' report among banks that dealt with Ng's companies, also declined to comment. The report showed no money in the Maybank account, suggesting it had been closed, although the timing was not clear.
The judicial managers have described the pattern of transactions in Ng's accounts as "highly unusual". Between July 2020 and February 2021, there were about 150 transfers a month, on average, from Envy corporate accounts to Ng's personal ones, according to an interim report by the judicial managers in May.
Global banks are required by most major financial centres, including Singapore, to alert the authorities to suspect activity via suspicious transaction reports. These so-called STRs can help expose possible fraud, but they are not always easy to analyse quickly given the high volume of reports, according to Oonagh van den Berg, managing director of Virtual Risk Solutions in Hong Kong, a consultancy firm that offers advisory and training services on compliance.

Investor alert​

In Singapore alone, about 33,571 STRs were filed on average each year from 2016 to 2019, according to data from the Commercial Affairs Department, the white-collar unit of the Singapore Police Force.
"Generally, banks are risk averse and would err on the side of caution" when it comes to filing an STR, said Chenthil Kumarasingam, a partner at law firm Withers KhattarWong. "This is understandable given the rigorous regulatory oversight in Singapore."
Ng had appeared on the authorities' radar for a different reason as early as March 2020. That was when the Monetary Authority of Singapore put Envy Asset Management on its Investor Alert List, which highlights companies that have been wrongly perceived as being licensed by the regulator.
The alert did little to deter some investors, however, in part because Ng distributed a letter from a top Singapore law firm, Allen & Gledhill, expressing its opinion that Envy Asset did not need to be licensed by MAS because it was not providing a fund management service as defined by the regulator, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Ng was also honouring withdrawal requests, giving clients little reason to suspect wrongdoing, another person said. As for banks, they are not required to stop dealing with entities on the Investor Alert List.

MAS said in response to questions from Bloomberg this month that it received "additional information" on Ng's companies between May and September 2020 and subsequently sent its findings to the police.
Allen & Gledhill said in an e-mail reply that the firm's advice was addressed only to Envy Asset and Envy Global, and not to be relied upon by anyone else.
"We did not advise on Envy's credit standing or the suitability of its products for investors," the firm said. "We are not able to comment further due to client confidentiality."
Ng's companies had six bank accounts holding about $7.9 million as of April 30, according to the judicial managers' report. About 86 per cent of that was in four accounts at DBS, with the remainder at CIMB. At least $282.2 million of cash that investors gave to Ng's companies remains unaccounted for, the prosecutors have said in affidavits.
 
If can scam so much money, it is OK to serve time. But the govt is not going to make it easier.
 

Ng Yu Zhi back in court, faces 18 new charges over billion-dollar nickel trading scheme that involved high-profile investors​

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If convicted, Ng Yu Zhi could be jailed for up to 10 years and fined for each count of cheating. ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
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Grace Leong
Senior Business Correspondent

OCT 25, 2021

SINGAPORE - Businessman Ng Yu Zhi, who is embroiled in one of Singapore's biggest investment fraud schemes, was slapped with 18 more charges in the State Courts over his role in a nickel trading scheme that allegedly cheated investors of at least $1.2 billion.
Clad in a black jacket, white shirt and khaki trousers, the bespectacled Singaporean sat alone in the courtroom as fresh charges were read to him prior to the start of the hearing on Monday (Oct 25) afternoon.
Ng, 34, now faces a total of 69 charges, including those for forgery and criminal breach of trust. In August, 20 counts of cheating involving more than $16 million and US$200,000 (S$269,000) were filed against him.
On Monday, he was hit with more counts of cheating involving $11.4 million and US$5.9 million. Ng, whose bail of $4 million was extended on Monday, is expected to be back in court on Dec 20.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Kevin Yong asked the court for further mentions to be adjourned for eight more weeks in order to complete investigations.
"We are not asking for an increase in bail now but we are reserving the rights to ask for this for the current set of (18) charges or any further charges that may be tendered," he said.
Lawyer Rajvinder Singh Chahal, who is representing Ng, said he has no objection to the prosecution's application but asked "how long more investigations will continue, and whether this adjournment is likely to be the last one".

DPP Yong said he "cannot confirm if this is the last adjournment for further investigations".
Ng is a director of Envy Asset Management (EAM) and Envy Global Trading (EGT), which allegedly raised billions of dollars from investors for fake deals related to nickel trading. He was arrested in February this year and first charged with cheating and fraudulent trading in March.
Monday's charges alleged that Ng duped investors between last July and February this year into buying some receivables from EGT's purported sale of nickel to BNP Paribas and a firm named Raffemet, when no such transactions were made.

Investors were allegedly promised varying returns, depending on the nickel trading schemes they joined.
Alleged victims in past charges include Temasek Holdings general counsel Pek Siok Lan, Vickers Venture Partners founder Finian Tan and former Law Society president Thio Shen Yi.
On Monday, Ng was charged with forging false electronic records on various occasions between June 27, 2016 and Aug 12, 2020 for the purpose of cheating.

According to charge sheets, he made false electronic records, between June 2016 and October 2019, of distribution agreements purportedly entered between EAM and Poseidon Nickel for the sale of nickel to EAM. This was allegedly done to dupe investors into believing that EAM had bought nickel from Poseidon.
Ng was also charged with making false electronic records, on various occasions between December 2019 and August 2020, of forward contracts purportedly entered between BNP Paribas Commodity Futures and EAM and EGT for the sale of nickel. This was allegedly done to dupe investors into believing EAM and EGT had entered into forward contracts with BNP.
Ng was also charged with abetting to instigate a Ju Xiao to lodge a false document with the Registrar of Companies claiming that the amount of paid-up share capital for EGT had been raised from $1,000 to $100 million, when there was allegedly no such increase.
If convicted, Ng 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. For each count of forgery, he could be jailed for up to four years and fined.
For each count of lodging false or misleading documents to the Registrar of Companies, he could be jailed for up to two years, fined up to $50,000, or both.
 

Trio charged over plans to help businessman Ng Yu Zhi, linked to alleged fraud of $1.2b, flee S'pore​

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(Clockwise from left) Keeran Marcus Phang Guan Wei, Alvin Oey Wei Zhong and Ding Kuon Chwo were each handed one charge of engaging in a conspiracy to intentionally obstruct the course of justice. ST PHOTOS: KELVIN CHNG
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Shaffiq Alkhatib
Court Correspondent

OCT 26, 2021

SINGAPORE - Three men appeared in a district court on Tuesday (Oct 26) as they are accused of working together to help Ng Yu Zhi - a businessman allegedly linked to one of Singapore's largest investment fraud schemes - unlawfully flee the country.
The three Singaporeans are: Keeran Marcus Phang Guan Wei, 31; Alvin Oey Wei Zhong, 37; and Ding Kuon Chwo, 63.
They were each handed one charge of engaging in a conspiracy to intentionally obstruct the course of justice.
Separately, Ding and Oey also face charges linked to illegal gambling activities.
Around April, the trio allegedly conspired to help Ng, 34, leave Singapore unlawfully despite knowing that he was under investigation by the police.
According to court documents, Oey allegedly instructed Ding to find out how Ng could leave Singapore.
Ding is said to have contacted various people to find out more about the matter.

Phang and Oey then allegedly attempted to contact Ng through various individuals to offer him plans to flee the country.
Details about those plans were not disclosed in court documents.
The alleged plans were foiled after the police found out about them during a separate investigation into gambling offences involving Ding and Oey.


In a statement on Monday evening, the police said that officers then took immediate steps to prevent the offence and arrested Phang, who was allegedly involved as well.
They added: "The police take a firm stance against persons involved in or attempting to obstruct the course of justice.
"Tough enforcement action will be taken against persons who break the law and they will be prosecuted and punished in accordance with the law."
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Ng Yu Zhi is said to be linked to a nickel trading scheme that allegedly cheated investors of at least $1.2 billion. ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
Phang and Oey will be represented by lawyer Sarbrinder Singh from Sanders Law.
On Tuesday, Ding and Phang were each offered bail of $15,000 and their cases have been adjourned to Nov 17.
Oey's bail was set at $30,000 and his pre-trial conference will be held on Nov 3.

Ng is said to be linked to a nickel trading scheme that allegedly cheated investors of at least $1.2 billion.
The Singaporean, who is also the former director of Envy Asset Management and Envy Global Trading, was arrested in February and first charged with cheating and fraudulent trading in March.
He now faces a total of 69 charges, including for forgery and criminal breach of trust.
In August, 20 counts of cheating involving more than $16 million and US$200,000 (S$269,000) were filed against him.
On Monday, he was hit with more counts of cheating involving $11.4 million and US$5.9 million.
Ng, whose bail has been set at $4 million, is expected to be back in court on Dec 20.
 

Singapore's alleged nickel scammer sued in $517 million action​

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Ng Yu Zhi arriving at the State Courts on Oct 25, 2021. ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG

NOV 26, 2021

SINGAPORE (BLOOMBERG) - Singaporean businessman Ng Yu Zhi, who is at the centre of an alleged US$1.1 billion (S$1.5 billion) nickel trading scam, was sued by the liquidators of his Envy Group for damages totalling about $517.4 million, according to a court document.
Three of the Envy companies and the liquidator team led by Mr Bob Yap of KPMG Singapore filed the suit against Mr Ng and three other people on Nov 19, according to the document, which listed the nature of the case as insolvency.
Mr Ng, 34, faces 69 charges in the case that has riveted Singapore's moneyed class after his February arrest. Among the allegations is that he raised at least $1.46 billion in what authorities have called one of the city-state's largest-ever suspected investment fraud schemes.
Hundreds of investors, from businessmen and top legal professionals to financiers and footballers put their money into the scheme, which touted average quarterly gains of 15 per cent.
The High Court approved a wind-up of Envy Global Trading and its sister firms in August. The companies were founded by Mr Ng, who also had the controlling stake in all of them. Mr Ng remains on bail and has not pleaded guilty. Mr Ng declined to comment. Mr Yap did not immediately comment.
Along with Mr Ng, Ms Lee Si Ye, an Envy shareholder, was also named in the court document. Mr Ju Xiao and Mr Cheong Ming Feng, former Envy employees, are the third and fourth defendants.
 

Ng Yu Zhi charged with spending over $100 million of alleged ill-gotten gains​

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Ng Yu Zhi is accused of using the alleged ill-gotten gains to pay for supercars, properties, jewellery, insurance policies and art works. ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
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Joyce Lim
Senior Correspondent


DEC 20, 2021

SINGAPORE - Singaporean businessman Ng Yu Zhi, who is at the centre of an alleged US$1.1 billion (S$1.5 billion) nickel trading scam, was slapped with six more charges on Monday (Dec 20).
Ng, 34, was accused of transferring more than $68 million to several personal bank accounts he held with DBS Bank, UOB, OCBC Bank, Citibank, HSBC, Maybank and Standard Chartered Bank, between March last year and February this year.
He was also accused of using the alleged ill-gotten gains from his firms - Envy Global Trading and Envy Asset Management - to pay for supercars, properties, jewellery, insurance policies and artwork, which amounted to more than $100 million.
This takes the total number of charges against him to 75, including those for forgery and criminal breach of trust. Ng, who has yet to enter a plea, is out on a bail of $4 million. He was arrested in February and first charged in March.
Among his purchases was a multimillion-dollar Pagani Huayra hypercar previously owned by Ossia International chief executive Steven Goh.
Court documents showed that Ng had paid Mr Goh $7.1 million, as partial payment for the rare Italian hypercar, between April and August last year.
The hypercar was among the $100 million worth of assets seized by the Commercial Affairs Department this year.

Other cars Ng bought included a Porsche 911 GT3, Ferrari 488 Pista Spider, Toyota Lexus LS500, Aston Martin Rapide, Rolls Royce Phantom and Lamborghini Aventador SVJ.
Within a year, Ng spent over $20 million on about 20 luxury cars, including a sought-after vehicle number plate - S11T.
He also paid more than $20 million for four properties in Emerald Hill, Bussorah Street, Jervois Road and Coldstream Avenue and over $15 million for high-end jewellery and luxury watches, some of which were from Bulgari, Piaget, Van Cleef & Arpels and Richard Mille.
Court documents also showed Ng paid almost $10 million for 44 pieces of artwork, several of which were works by local artists Lim Tze Peng and Chen Wen Hsi.
Ng, a former director of Envy Asset Management and Envy Global Trading, had allegedly raised more than $1.2 billion from investors for fake deals related to nickel trading, making this one of Singapore's largest fraudulent trading schemes.
Investors, who include prominent personalities here such as Vickers Venture Partners founder Finian Tan and former Law Society president Thio Shen Yi, were promised varying returns, depending on the types of nickel trading schemes they joined.

The new charges showed Ng paid about US$11 million for shares in Vickers Financial Group between November and December last year.
In August this year, the High Court approved the winding up of Envy Global Trading and its sister firms.
Last month, the liquidators of Ng's Envy Group sued Ng for damages totalling about $517.4 million.
 

Envy ex-director's eateries - one shut, two up for sale​

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Cicada is now being wound up after banks started shutting accounts linked to troubled businessman Ng Yu Zhi. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
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A closed Cicada restaurant at Clarke Quay, on July 31, 2021. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
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Joyce Lim
Senior Correspondent

AUG 31, 2021

SINGAPORE - It cost $1.5 million to set up but Cicada, a trendy 4,000 square foot restaurant-cum-live music lounge that is linked to troubled businessman Ng Yu Zhi, is now being wound up after banks started shutting accounts linked to him.
Two other food and beverage businesses - Japanese omakase restaurant Nishikane and sake "japas" bar Sake Labo - where Ng is a major shareholder, have also been put up for sale.
Ng, 34, a former director of Envy Global Trading and Envy Asset Management, was charged in March with fraud and cheating more than 400 investors of at least $1.2 billion, in one of Singapore's largest suspected fraudulent trading schemes.
Investors, who include prominent personalities in Singapore such as founder of Vickers Venture Partners Finian Tan and Law Society president Thio Shen Yi, were promised varying returns, depending on the nickel trading schemes they joined.
Sources said Cicada in Clarke Quay, which opened early last year, had the Chinese name "Yu Jian Li" - which means "having met Li". It was apparently a gift from Ng to one of his close Chinese female friends Li Qiong.
She held 70 per cent of the shares and Ng 30 per cent in the business registered under the name Cicada YJL.
Mr Raymond Lim, who is a director of Cicada YJL and has been running Ng's F&B businesses, told The Sunday Times that following Ng's arrest in March, OCBC Bank informed him that it would be closing Cicada's account.

Without a bank account to pay suppliers, workers' salaries and receive credit card payments from customers, the restaurant was unable to operate, said Mr Lim, 42.
Four of its seven staff were transferred to Sake Labo while the others left, he added.
Mr Lim, who also runs his own food consultancy firm Restaurant Lifestyle Asia, said he first met Ng in March last year after he helped set up Nishikane in Stanley Street. "He was pleased with the outcome of Nishikane and invited me to start an F&B management firm with him," Mr Lim recalled.


In June last year, Envy Hospitality Holdings (EHH) was incorporated and Mr Lim was appointed the director. Ng's firm, Invidia Capital, is the major shareholder.
Currently, both Nishikane and Sake Labo, which have 22 employees, are run under EHH.
Mr Lim said Ng did not want to consolidate Cicada under EHH. As the managing partner of Ng's F&B businesses, Mr Lim, who said he has never met Ms Li, was told to oversee the operations of Cicada.
When Invidia Capital went into voluntary liquidation in May this year, Nishikane and Sake Labo, also in Stanley Street, had to be put up for sale. Sources told ST that EHH is asking for $1.5 million for each of the two outlets.
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The second floor of the closed Cicada restaurant at Clarke Quay. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
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The kitchen in the second floor of the closed Cicada restaurant at Clarke Quay. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
Mr Lim, who last saw Ng in court on July 5, said it was an uphill task trying to keep the F&B businesses afloat when banks closed accounts related to Ng. Mr Lim also received letters from lawyers representing the landlord in Clarke Quay seeking compensation for terminating the lease.
"Instead of being the first to bail out at the first sign of trouble, I see it as not just a professional obligation but also a moral one to stay behind to clear up the mess with affected stakeholders like the landlords and suppliers," said Mr Lim.
"Most importantly, I want to ensure that all my 22 team members still have a job and get paid.
"I am as much a victim as the investors who invested with Ng and lost their hard-earned money. Not only is my time and effort in setting up a legitimate business down the drain, my professional reputation is also being dragged through the m&d," he added.
"The past few months have been an emotional roller coaster but my Christian faith has kept me positive and persevering for a swift resolution hopefully."
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The second floor of the closed Cicada restaurant at Clarke Quay. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
At a court hearing on July 5, Ng's bail was raised to $4 million from $1.5 million due to the seriousness of the additional charges. The prosecution had separately said plans were afoot to help him flee the country.
Ng, who is married to socialite Coco Cai, is said to have led a lavish lifestyle with personal expenses of $2 million a month. He owns many fast cars, including the only multi-million-dollar Pagani Huayra hypercar here.
Correction note: In the earlier version, we said that Envy-ex director Ng Yu Zhi's bail amount was increased to $4 million from $1.5 million after police uncovered a plot to help him flee the country by land or sea.To clarify, the court raised Ng's bail amount due to the seriousness of the additional charges and did not find that there was an increase in flight risk.
 

Alleged nickel trading fraudster Ng Yu Zhi fails in bid to stay $23m civil suit against him​

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Ng Yu Zhi currently faces 75 criminal charges. PHOTO: ST FILE
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Selina Lum
Law Correspondent


JAN 14, 2022

SINGAPORE - The High Court on Friday (Jan 14) dismissed a bid by businessman Ng Yu Zhi, who is at the centre of an alleged $1 billion nickel trading scam, to stay a civil suit against him until his criminal case comes to an end.
Ng, 34, currently faces 75 criminal charges - mostly for cheating and forgery - in relation to a nickel trading investment scheme offered by his companies, Envy Asset Management and Envy Global Trading (EGT).
Two investors, construction firm Debenho and its managing director Low Teck Dee, filed a High Court suit against Ng on March 31 last year seeking to recover $23 million.
Debenho and Mr Low had paid $20 million under five contracts between November 2020 and January last year to purchase a portion of EGT's trade receivables that were purportedly due from a nickel buyer.
The plaintiffs claim that EGT had told them that they had earned net profits of about 17 per cent, but they never received repayment of their purchase price and the profits.
On May 14 last year, two cheating charges arising from the same facts relating to Debenho and Mr Low were brought against Ng.
In June last year, Ng applied for the civil suit to be stayed pending the determination of the criminal proceedings against him, including any appeals.

The application was dismissed by an assistant registrar in August, and he appealed to High Court Judge Ang Cheng Hock.
Ng, represented by Mr Navin Thevar from Davinder Singh Chambers, contended that he would suffer a real danger of prejudice in the criminal case if the civil suit is not stayed.
He argued that if the civil suit proceeds, he would have to testify on matters that he could use to defend himself in the criminal case.

This would undermine his right of silence and his privilege against self-incrimination, he said.
Ng also argued that the prosecution would be given an unfair advantage in the criminal proceedings as it now has an opportunity to watch a "test run" of its case.
Debenho and Mr Low, represented by Mr Alfred Lim and Ms Jaime Lye from Fullerton Law Chambers, argued that Ng has already filed his defence in the civil suit and it was difficult to see how his criminal case would be prejudiced.
In a written judgment on Friday, Justice Ang said: "It is for Mr Ng to establish precisely how he will suffer a real, and not a notional, danger of prejudice.
"I find that he has not done this, other than to refer in general terms to his right of silence and his privilege against self-incrimination."

Justice Ang agreed with the plaintiffs that Ng has effectively disclosed his defence to his criminal charges by filing his defence to the civil suit.
"In a manner of speaking, the horse has already bolted," the judge said.
He added that even if the prosecution can enjoy a preview of Ng's case, it does not follow that evidence in the civil case can in turn be relied on in the criminal case.
"The prosecution... remains limited to proving its case on the basis of evidence which has been admitted in the criminal proceedings," he noted.
In any event, said the judge, the so-called advantage of the prosecution having some insight into Ng's possible defence was overstated.
"Just as the prosecution may have a preview of the accused's defence and his evidence in the civil proceedings, the accused person has the corresponding advantage of having a similar preview of the prosecution's case and its evidence."
When contacted, Mr Lim said his clients have already applied for summary judgment against Ng and will be pursuing it vigorously.
A summary judgment is a judgment entered by a court without a full trial.
 

Liquidators win judgment to go after alleged nickel scammer Ng Yu Zhi's personal assets​

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Ng Yu Zhi is facing 105 criminal charges to date for his alleged involvement in the US$1.1 billion nickel trading scam. ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
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Grace Leong
Senior Business Correspondent

JUN 3, 2022

SINGAPORE - A court ruling has cleared the way for liquidators to pursue hundreds of millions of dollars allegedly transferred wrongfully into the personal accounts of businessman Ng Yu Zhi in a nickel trading scam that has become one of Singapore's biggest investment frauds.
Ng and three others were sued in High Court in November last year by the liquidators of Envy Global Trading (EGT), Envy Asset Management (EAM) and Envy Management Holdings in a bid to recover $416.5 million and US$17.7 million (S$24.3 million) from his personal assets.
On top of the lawsuit, Ng, the former managing director of EGT and EAM, is facing 105 criminal charges to date for his alleged involvement in the US$1.1 billion nickel trading scam.
Around 1,000 investors, including business people, lawyers and financiers, sank their money into the scheme, which touted average quarterly gains of 15 per cent.
Court documents state that Ng's three companies received about $1.09 billion, US$277.1 million and €980,000 (S$1.45 million) in investor funds, supposedly for nickel trading.
Of those sums, $578.4 million, US$192.5 million and €880,000 remain outstanding.
A partial summary judgment issued in a High Court chamber's hearing on May 20 gave the liquidators the green light to pursue $416.5 million and US$17.7 million of these amounts, Mr David Chan, Shook Lin & Bok partner and the liquidators' lawyer, told The Straits Times. A summary judgment is one entered by a court without a full trial.

"The claims and reliefs against Ng are significant and wide-ranging due to his role in an investment fraud of unprecedented scale and complexity," court papers said.
Ng, with "knowing assistance" from Lee Si Ye, an EGT director; and former employees Ju Xiao, also known as David Ju; and Cheong Ming Feng, also known as Justin Cheong, were accused of perpetrating the scam.
It involved investments in non-existent physical nickel trading being "sold to investors of the Envy companies, with false promises of capital protection and generous returns on purported nickel trading".

The defendants are accused of forging documents, including contracts and shipping documents, to "create the pretence that the Envy companies were engaged in physical nickel trading through the purchase of nickel from Poseidon Nickel".
These allegations were also the subject of several criminal charges brought against Ng in October last year.
Charge sheets state that between June 2016 and October 2019, he made false electronic records of distribution agreements purportedly entered into between EAM and Poseidon Nickel for the sale of nickel to EAM. This was allegedly done to dupe investors into believing that EAM had bought nickel from Poseidon.

The defendants had also told investors that EAM was licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the suit alleged.
But the investors' funds were never used to buy nickel from Poseidon Nickel.
The liquidators, led by KPMG partner Bob Yap, allege that a total of $416.5 million and US$17.7 million was transferred to Ng "under false pretences and without any proper or legitimate basis", as no such nickel trading existed.
"All of the bank accounts named in the fraudulent transfers are actually Ng's personal accounts, and to date, he has no explanation for the transfers," Mr Yap said.

Funds were also "paid to Ng and Lee as directors' fees, paid to Lee as commissions, paid to employees of the Envy companies as commissions, profit sharing and referral fees, and paid to investors as referral fees or fictitious profits", the liquidators' suit said.
Ng said in court papers filed in April that he does not admit that the funds were transferred from the Envy companies to him "without any proper or legitimate basis".
He added: "I do not agree that partial summary judgment for $416.5 million and US$17.7 million should be entered against me."
Ng claimed he was "unable to properly plead his defence" because "a substantial number of documents... were seized by the Commercial Affairs Department", and his lawyers have not been able to get access to the seized documents.
 

Man charged over plan to help alleged nickel trading scammer Ng Yu Zhi flee S'pore​

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Shaffiq Alkhatib
Court Correspondent

July 19, 2022



SINGAPORE - Two separate plans were allegedly hatched by different people to help Ng Yu Zhi - a businessman said to be linked to one of Singapore's largest investment fraud schemes - unlawfully flee the country, and the authorities have foiled both of them.
Two men are now accused of working together in one of the escape bids.
Shawn Liew Cheng Long, 36, was charged on Tuesday (July 19) with one count of engaging in a conspiracy to intentionally obstruct the course of justice.
His alleged accomplice, Ang Yew Teck, 49, was handed a similar charge in February.
Ang is also accused of other unrelated offences including some involving unlawful gambling activities.
The pair were said to have been in Leedon Park near Holland Road in or around August last year when they allegedly offered Ng plans to unlawfully leave Singapore.
Court documents did not disclose details about the escape bid.

Liew's case has been adjourned to Aug 2 while Ang is expected to plead guilty to his charges 13 days later.
Police said in the statement on Tuesday that the pair's case is separate from the one involving a trio who were dealt with in court earlier this year over another plan to help Ng flee Singapore.
Keeren Marcus Phang Guan Wei, 32; Alvin Oey Weizhong, 37 and Ding Kuon Chwo, 63, had been sentenced to between three months and a year's jail.


Ng, 35, the former director of Envy Asset Management and Envy Global Trading, is said to be linked to a nickel trading scheme that allegedly cheated investors of at least $1.2 billion.
He was charged in court on March 22 last year and his case is still pending.
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Businessman Ng Yu Zhi is said to be linked to a nickel trading scheme that allegedly cheated investors of at least $1.2 billion. ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
In April last year, Phang heard rumours that the boss of "Envy car shop" wanted to abscond from Singapore and that a financial reward was offered to those who could facilitate the escape bid.
Phang also suspected that the boss in question was Ng. Phang then instructed Oey to check if he could help "someone" unlawfully leave Singapore for Malaysia.
Phang also offered a reward of between $50,000 and $100,000, and Oey agreed to be part of the plan.
Oey later told Phang that Ding managed to find someone who could transport Ng to Malaysia. Oey also asked Phang to check with Ng on the arrangement.
Phang then told Oey that he could not contact Ng.
After that, Oey contacted Ding and told him that there was no response from Ng about their proposal. None of the three men managed to contact Ng to tell him about the plan.
The police later found out about it and the trio were charged in court last year.
For obstructing the course of justice, an offender can be jailed for up to seven years and fined.
 

Alleged nickel trading scammer Ng Yu Zhi declared bankrupt​

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A bankruptcy order was made against Ng Yu Zhi on Dec 22, 2022. PHOTO: ST FILE
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Grace Leong
Senior Business Correspondent

Jan 16, 2023

SINGAPORE - Ng Yu Zhi, the alleged perpetrator of a US$1.1 billion nickel trading scam, has been declared a bankrupt ahead of a hearing on his criminal case in State Courts on Tuesday.
A bankruptcy order was made against the 35-year-old on Dec 22, 2022, according to the government gazette published on Jan 13.
This comes after a bankruptcy application was taken out against Ng shortly after the High Court in May 2022 cleared the way for liquidators to pursue hundreds of millions of dollars allegedly transferred wrongfully into Ng’s personal accounts.
KPMG partner Adrian Chan and Reliance Audit founder SK Lai were appointed bankruptcy trustees and have begun identifying Ng’s assets, a source close to the case said.
Ng and three others were sued in the High Court in November 2021 by the liquidators of Envy Global Trading (EGT), Envy Asset Management (EAM) and Envy Management Holdings in a bid to recover $416.5 million and US$17.7 million (S$24.3 million) from his personal assets.
On top of the lawsuit, Ng, the former managing director of EGT and EAM, is facing 105 criminal charges for his alleged involvement in the scam.
The bankruptcy application was made against Ng probably because the liquidators of the Envy Global companies were unable to recover any meaningful claims from the companies and from him, said Kennedys Legal Solutions partner Robson Lee.

“Making Ng a bankrupt will subject him to the legal regime of the bankruptcy laws and enable the liquidators to go after any voidable personal asset dealings and financial payments that may have been made by him, in order to satisfy any judgment debt,” said Mr Lee.
A voidable personal asset dealing refers to a transaction that is not legally enforceable and can still be recovered by the liquidators, he added.
Court documents state that Ng’s three companies received about $1.09 billion, US$277.1 million and €980,000 (S$1.45 million) in investor funds, supposedly for nickel trading. Of those sums, $578.4 million, US$192.5 million and €880,000 remain outstanding.
Mr David Chan, Shook Lin & Bok partner and the liquidators’ lawyer, told The Straits Times that a partial summary judgment issued in High Court on May 20, 2022 gave the liquidators the green light to pursue $416.5 million and US$17.7 million of these amounts. A summary judgment is one entered by a court without a full trial.
In November 2022, the High Court ruled on how the creditors’ proof of debt is to be assessed on an interim basis, the source said.
About 1,000 investors, including business people, lawyers and financiers, sank their money into the scheme, which touted average quarterly gains of 15 per cent.
 
this guy is amazing. he can actually con high profile venture capital boss Dr finnan Tan , banks investment heads and i think also someone from temasek. That's a big slap on the face of those successful people, no due diligence?

Netflix should do a show on him , they just released a show on bernie madoff, Ng deserves his own show too.
 
Still no match for fake prophet Con Hee. He's still greatly loved by his congregation despite his crimes.
 
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