SINGAPORE: Ng Teck Lee, the former CEO of Citiraya who absconded for almost 20 years, was denied bail by a district court on Tuesday ( Dec 24 ).
The 58-year-old is implicated in an alleged S$ 72 million ( US$ 53 million ) embezzlement case involving Citiraya, a firm that recycled and recovered precious metals from electronic scrap.
After serving 19 times on the run, he and his wife and co-accused Thor Chwee Hwa, 55, were detained in Malaysia on December 3.
Hon Yi, the deputy public attorney, claimed that during his escape, Ng lived in Malaysia under an other name.
This presented a clear flight threat, the prosecutor said.
The court heard at a prior hearing that his wife was denied parole and that when they were detained, they were discovered with false identification documents and that Thor had offshore assets worth about S$ 440,000.
Because studies were still in the early stages, Ng was never permitted to speak with legal counsel at the hearing.
Mr. Hon stated on Tuesday that the trial was requesting Ng to remain in custody with full exposure to his attorney, Mr. Aristotle Eng.
Mr. Eng claimed that at this time, he did not object to his client never having loan.
Ng and Thor may appear in court again on February 7, 2025. At this time, both are facing one holding cost, but Ng is currently facing 150 infractions.
These are offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, Penal Code and Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes ( Confiscation of Benefits ) Act, the court previously heard.
Ng is charged with instructing some Citiraya employees to rebrand and export the company’s digital scrap in January 2005 rather than to him as CEO and president.
By opening a Credit Suisse Hong Kong unit account into which about S$ 1.1 million was transferred on or around July 10, 2003, Thor is accused of helping her husband keep his unlawful gains.