Shion
Senior Mentor
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2008
- Messages
- 360,297
- Reaction score
- 111,517
Bail for alleged nickel trading scammer Ng Yu Zhi raised to $6 million
https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...trading-scammer-ng-yu-zhi-raised-to-6-million
SINGAPORE - Alleged nickel trading scammer Ng Yu Zhi’s $4 million bail was raised to $6 million on Thursday after he was deemed a flight risk by the State Court.
This is a record amount according to some lawyers and underscores Ng’s role in one of Singapore’s biggest investment frauds.
Ng is accused of perpetrating a nickel trading scheme that allegedly cheated investors out of US$1.1 billion (S$1.45 billion).
Deputy Public Prosecutor Gordon Oh told the court on Thursday that the prospect of Ng facing a sentence that far exceeds 20 years and access to overseas assets of about US$107 million now held by various individuals in China translates to a potential increase of flight risk.
Ng, the founder of Envy Global Trading (EGT) and Envy Asset Management (EAM), who was made a bankrupt in December 2022, has been out on bail of $4 million.
He was arrested in February 2021 and first charged with cheating and fraudulent trading. He now faces 105 criminal charges, which were amended on Jan 17, for his alleged involvement in the scam.
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.
The bankruptcy order was made against Ng on Dec 22, 2022. This came 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.
In addition to the criminal charges, 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 from his personal assets.
Court documents state that Ng’s three companies received about $1.09 billion, US$277.1 million and €980,000 (S$1.4 million) in investor funds, supposedly for nickel trading.
Of those sums, $578.4 million, US$192.5 million and €880,000 remain outstanding.
Ng was also charged with receiving S$110.3 million in his personal bank accounts from Envy Asset Management.
Between December 2019 and February 2020, he allegedly spent US$250,000 on diamond jewellery, S$2.5 million on property - including 2 cars, insurance, convertible bonds and shares - and S$3.7 million on credit card bills, condominium rent, and interior design services. He was further charged with transferring US$108,000 and S$3.4 million in his personal accounts to other parties, as well as US$6.6 million to foreign bank accounts in the UK, Vietnam, Cambodia, France and Taiwan. He had also made transfers amounting to S$9.8 million within his personal accounts.
“The bail amount is not unreasonable in view of the scale of the alleged scam, the severity of the criminal charges, and the enormous sums of monies involved. There is basis for the court to be concerned that the accused is a flight risk,” Mr Robson Lee, partner of Kennedys Legal Solutions.
