Businessman Charged for Cheating Investors of $1b to Finance Nickel Trading Scheme

By
Shawn Ambrose
-

Unless you’re Jeff Bezos and you already have billions of dollars lying around the house, you probably have goals to grow your wealth.

One way to do this is to invest your money, or make your money work for you, as they say.

When you make high-risk investments, most people are aware that it’s possible to lose a large chunk of the money you put in, due to the unpredictable nature of the stock market.

But what if you unknowingly invested in something that doesn’t exist at all?

Businessman Charged for Cheating Investors of $1b to Finance Nickel Trading Scheme

The director of two companies currently under investigation was charged on Monday (22 Mar) with cheating and for being a party to fraudulent trading.

34-year-old Ng Yu Zhi is expected to face even more charges as his case unfolds.

Over a period of three years, Ng managed to draw investments of up to S$1 billion into his two companies, according to TODAYonline.

The investments were supposed to finance nickel trading activities, but the authorities now believe this was a sham. It’s reportedly one of the largest financial fraud cases in Singapore.

At the moment, the authorities do not know exactly how many investors have been deceived. These investors were promised varying returns which averaged 15%, over an investment period of three months.

While the extent of his swindles have not yet been determined, a few instances of cheating have already been uncovered.

Ng allegedly duped two parties into paying at least S$48 million to Envy Global Trading for its contracts with another company Raffemet for the sale of nickel.

The authorities later discovered that there were no such contracts.

He’s also accused of deceiving investors into lending money to Envy Asset Management to buy nickel from mining firm Poseidon Nickel Limited, when it did not make any such purchase.

In addition, Ng faces a count of cheating investors into entering contracts with Envy Global Trading to support its dealings in selling nickel to BNP Paribas bank when there were no such dealings.

Ng even allegedly cheated a Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)-licensed fund manager, Envysion Wealth Management, and its founder and CEO Shim Wai Han of S$48 million.

Arrested in Feb This Year

It was in November 2020 that MAS informed the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) about the two companies. Ng was then arrested in February this year.

Both organisations, along with the police, are now working to ascertain the number of individuals and companies that may have suffered losses.

Ng’s case will be adjourned to 17 May, where he’s expected to face more charges.

If found guilty of fraudulent trading, Ng faces up to seven years in jail, a fine of up to S$15,000, or both.

If convicted of cheating, Ng may be jailed up to 10 years and could also face a fine.

Feature Image: AlexLMX / Shutterstock.com

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Shawn Ambrose
Email: [email protected]