SINGAPORE - A Chinese national has been accused of working with a Singaporean company director to cheat banks here of nearly $130 million.

Wang Zhiguo, 56, was charged on Wednesday (March 13) in a district court with 81 counts of cheating involving banks such as DBS Bank and Maybank Singapore.

He allegedly worked with Ng Kheng Wah to commit the offences between 2014 and 2016.

Ng, also 56, had been charged in 2018 with supplying luxury goods to North Korea, in contravention of sanctions imposed on the country by the United Nations.

In the latest case, he allegedly instructed his Singapore-registered general wholesale trade company, T Specialist International, to submit to the banks false invoices to support its application for trade financing loans.

These false invoices were purportedly issued by a company known as Pinnacle Offshore Trading to T Specialist for the sale of items such as Pokka Milk Coffee, Watari Instant Noodles and White Rabbit Cream Candies.

The banks were then said to be duped into handing over the monies to Pinnacle Offshore Trading.

Court documents did not disclose how the firm was linked to the two men.

In July 2018, Ng was charged with supplying luxury goods worth about $6 million to North Korea and cheating banks of about $130 million.

He faces 80 counts of offences under the United Nations Act and 81 cheating charges.

On Wednesday, Wang was offered bail of $150,000 and will be back in court on April 10.

For each count of cheating, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined.