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.
Tan, who founded Vickers Venture Partners, said in a response to Bloomberg queries that he was the nominee for his and his partners’ investments in the receivable financing of Envy Global Trading.
“It is one of over 60 investments that we have exposure to as part of our overall diversification strategy,” he said. Tan’s entanglement in the scheme was previously reported by Bloomberg News.
Declining to comment on the Ng and Envy case specifically due to the ongoing investigations, a representative for DBS 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”.
In the case that has riveted Singapore’s moneyed classes, Ng was first charged in March for allegedly raising at least S$1 billion in what authorities have called one of the city state’s largest-ever suspected investment fraud schemes.
In five years through to 2021, Ng’s companies received fresh funds from investors of about S$1.46 billion, according to an interim judicial managers’ report in May seen by Bloomberg.
Ng and his lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Ng has not previously made any public comment on the charges and has been removed from his role as managing director of EGT.
If convicted, Ng faces a jail term of up to seven years on each of the fraudulent trading charges, while cheating is punishable with up to 10 years per count.
Criminal breach of trust carries a punishment of imprisonment of up to 20 years.
