SINGAPORE - A Singaporean businessman linked to the alleged fraud of more than $1 billion had more cheating charges brought against him on Monday (May 17).

Ng Yu Zhi, 34, was handed seven counts of cheating involving more than $23 million on Monday.

The latest charges are in addition to 11 counts of cheating, fraudulent trading and forgery he has racked up since his arrest in February.

Ng, the director of Envy Asset Management and Envy Global Trading, is said to have swindled investors into putting at least $1 billion into nickel deals that never took place.

The investors were promised varying returns averaging 15 per cent over three months.

The latest charges accuse him of deceiving seven individuals and companies between September 2020 and January 2021 into buying some receivables from Envy Global Trading's purported sale of nickel to a firm called Raffemet, but there was no such transaction.

They paid sums ranging from $650,000 to $14 million. In total, they were cheated of more than $23 million.

As at May 4, at least four lawsuits have been filed in court by investors seeking to claim some $50 million from Envy Global Trading and Ng.

The Commercial Affairs Department has seized about $100 million of assets from him.

Neither of Ng's firms is licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

The MAS stated on March 22 that it had been informed that Envy Asset Management claimed it was in the process of applying for a licence, even though no application had been submitted.

Ng, who is represented by Mr Navin Thevar from Davinder Singh Chambers, is currently out on bail of $1.5 million.

He has to continue wearing an electronic tag, and comply with a curfew from 10pm to 6am.

His bail is believed to be the highest sum imposed since electronic monitoring was introduced as a condition of bail in 2018.

He is expected to return to court on June 28.