SINGAPORE - Ng Yu Zhi, a Singaporean businessman who was allegedly involved in one of Singapore's biggest investment fraud schemes involving nickel trading, was handed 18 new charges in court on Monday (Feb 14).
Ng, who is a director at Envy Global Trading and Envy Asset Management, faces eight charges under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act over various offences of allegedly transferring ill-gotten gains to others.
They include purportedly transferring more than $35 million - between June 2020 and February 2021 - from two HSBC accounts to various companies, banks and individuals for expenses, such as to buy jewellery from Louis Vuitton and Luxlexicon and to pay American Express card bills totalling more than $12 million.
Ng, 34, also faces six charges over allegedly engaging in a conspiracy with two individuals - Cheong Ming Feng and Heng Yong Hui - to forge electronic records on several occasions.
One of the offences took place in or around September 2018 when Heng had allegedly forged a consolidated financial statement purportedly issued by BNP Paribas Commodity Futures to make it seem that Envy Asset Management sold nickel briquettes to the investment firm.
Ng was also handed four new cheating charges on Monday.
He is accused of engaging in a conspiracy to cheat Envysion Wealth Management - an asset manager - into believing that Envy Global Trading would sell nickel briquettes to building materials supplier Raffemet while never intending to fulfil the contract.
Ng appeared in court on Monday wearing a black blazer.
The new charges bring the total charges against him to 93, including those of forgery and criminal breach of trust.
Ng was arrested in February last year and first charged the following month.
Earlier court documents showed that Ng had paid $7.1 million as partial payment for a Pagani Huayra hypercar between April and August 2020.
The hypercar was among the $100 million worth of assets seized by the Commercial Affairs Department last year.
Other cars Ng bought included a Porsche 911 GT3, Ferrari 488 Pista Spider, Lexus LS500, Aston Martin Rapide, Rolls Royce Phantom and Lamborghini Aventador SVJ.
He has also spent millions of dollars on properties and artwork.
In August last year, the High Court approved the winding-up of Envy Global Trading and its sister firms.
Ng is out on bail and will next appear in court on March 28.
