Top Singapore lawyers among victims of city’s largest alleged investment fraud
- Singapore businessman Ng Yu Zhi has been prosecuted for allegedly raising funds from investors for nickel trades that did not exist
- Thio Shen Yi and Finian Tan are among a list of high-profile victims from the legal community caught in the scandal
Pek Siok Lan, general counsel for state-owned investor Temasek International, and Thio Shen Yi, joint managing partner of TSMP Law Corporation, are named in new charge sheets against Singapore businessman Ng Yu Zhi, who has been prosecuted for allegedly raising funds from investors for nickel trades that did not exist.
Sunil Sudheesan, a director specialised in criminal cases with Quahe Woo & Palmer LLC, and technology start-up investor Finian Tan are also among the victims who were allegedly cheated.
Ng was accused of an additional 13 charges on Monday, according to court documents seen by Bloomberg News.
He was charged with cheating nine individuals and three corporate entities out of at least S$83 million (US$61.8 million) in connection with Envy Global Trading’s purported forward contracts for the sale of nickel, when there were no such forward contracts, according to the sheets.
He was also charged with a criminal breach of trust by “dishonestly misappropriating a sum of at least S$201 million” from Envy Global Trading’s DBS Bank account, the documents show.
The number of charges against Ng now stands at 31.
Sudheesan declined to comment on the charge, citing ongoing investigations. Pek and Thio did not immediately respond to emails for comment.