Singapore files charges against businessman in nickel trading fraud

Singapore/Hanoi — Singapore prosecutors on Monday filed 13 additional charges against a local businessman in relation to a scheme that allegedly raised more than S$1bn ($746m ) from investors to fund bogus nickel trades.

Authorities in the city state have implicated Ng Yu Zhi, a former MD of trading companies Envy Global Trading (EGT) and an inactive firm, Envy Asset Management, in the fraud scandal, one of the biggest in Singapore.

According to the charge sheets, prosecutors allege that Ng, 34, cheated nine individuals and three corporate entities of about $63.6m in connection with EGT's non-existent forward nickel contracts.

They also allege he committed “criminal breach of trust by dishonestly misappropriating” a sum of at least S$201.2m in EGT's DBS bank account between August 2020 and February 2021 while director of the firm.

DBS declined comment on the case but said it maintains robust systems and controls to identify and report suspicious transactions.

The number of charges against Ng now stands at 31.

The scheme raised about S$1.5bn from nearly 1,000 investors, with about S$731m of this later withdrawn by investors, according to interim judicial managers at accounting firm KPMG.

Authorities have previously said at least S$1bn was raised in the scheme, which ensnared the likes of lawyers and fund managers.

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.

Reuters