SINGAPORE: Alleged fraudster Ng Yu Zhi “lived lavishly” on the criminal proceeds from the S$ 1.5 billion ( US$ 1.1 billion ) nickel investment scheme he masterminded, prosecutors told a High Court judge on Wednesday ( Nov 27 ).
On the second day of the test for the Singaporean, Deputy Public Prosecutor Gordon Oh said Ng, 37, organized the intricate plan that offered investors profits from the alleged purchase of natural copper from 2016 to 2021.
The defendant’s allegation is that Envy Global Trading and Envy Asset Management, Ng deceived traders into believing he was purchasing metal at a discount and selling it for a sizable income through his businesses Envy Global Trading and Envy Asset Management.
This system was Ng’s “brainchild” and was “pure literature”. According to Mr. Oh, he privately forged documents and made false claims through Envy company sales representatives to spin a compelling story.
The prosecutor claimed that there was actually no real nickel trading activity under the sun, and otherwise, investors were compensated with money invested by various investors.
Ng derived great specific benefit from the scheme, withdrawing at least S$ 201.2 million from Envy Global Dealing into his personal bank accounts, according to the attorney.
He reportedly purchased luxury vehicles, jewelry, and works of art to launder$ 92,2 million in stolen funds.
He is accused of laundering about S$ 305 million through different methods, including transferring the money to different bank records and individuals, and removing it from law enforcement.
Ng’s pleasures included a S$ 1.8 million Pagani Huayra Coupe sports vehicle, paintings by renowned Foreign and Singaporean artists Gao Xing Jian, as well as properties in Jervois Road, Emerald Hill Road, Coldstream Avenue, and Bussorah Street.
After the first day of the test, when lawyers from both sides clashed, the prosecutors began defending itself against Ng in its opening statement.
Ng is contesting 42 costs of fraud, money laundering, cheating, false trading and legal breach of trust. During the prosecution, 66 additional costs have been dropped.
Over the course of more than 50 days of trial, the prosecution will use 58 testimony to present its situation.
A rep from BNP Paribas will testify that the lender did not enter forward arrangements to buy copper from Ng’s companies, as well as a representative from Poseidon Nickel Limited who will testify that the company did not have any contract to provide metal to Ng’s companies.
Shim Wai Han, also known as Veronica Shim, who was one of Ng’s owners and former Envysion Wealth Management CEO, was the first trial witness to testify.
According to Ng’s cost plates, he reportedly cheated Shim of S$ 955, 115 she invested with Envy Global Buying between November 2020 and January 2021.
Shim was charged with conspiring in Envysion’s inability to implement a sound risk management framework for the finance and of preventing conflicts of interest caused by the fund’s asset management.
The original secret lender is also accused of sending an email string between Envysion and the Monetary Authority of Singapore to Ng in violation of the Official Secrets Act.
Shim explained on Wednesday how the metal investment plan, as it was known, worked and how she first met Ng.
Before registering Envysion in 2019, Shim claimed to be a certified financial planner, faith and estate planner, and had spent about 20 years working as a personal banker.
She claimed to have met people from Envy Asset Management to learn how the copper investment scheme worked after being told about it by a friend in 2018.
When he discovered the nickel trading option in 2016, he claimed to be an auditor at KPMG.
According to Ng, the price of metal was already down at the time, and Poseidon, a company that mines nickel, was forced to keep a sizable stockpile of the metallic after a buyer terminated their purchase agreement, said Shim.
Ng claimed to have secured a great discount on the stockpile, which he was trading with a lot of profit.
However, he informed Shim that since the value of copper has stabilized, and Poseidon has since asked him to commit to buying it every month to maintain the discounted price.
As each distribution of copper took two to three months, Ng needed to improve his cashflow. He was so offering the opportunity to another investors, Shim recalled.
She claimed that Ng had let her know each month whether he had secured the price of the metal and provide her with a “profit table” showing the difference between the commodity’s selling and purchase price.
She had then choose whether or not to participate in that batch of funding with Ng’s businesses, said Shim, adding:” They rarely failed to pay us”.
The test continues on Wednesday evening.