Singaporean couple linked to US$51 million fraud case arrested in Malaysia after 19 years on the run

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean man and his wife were arrested in Malaysia on Tuesday ( Dec 3 ) in connection to a fraud case involving over US$ 51 million &nbsp, after being on the run for 19 years.

Ng Teck Lee, the then-CEO of electronics recycling firm Citiraya Industries, and his wife, Thor Chwee Hwa, were handed over to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau ( CPIB ) by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission ( MACC ) on the same day.

In a press release on Wednesday, CPIB said Ng, 58, had left Singapore in 2005 with Thor, 55, when examinations started.

According to the statement,” Several efforts were made by the government in connection with CPIB’s investigations,” noting that an emigration stoplist and police newspaper were issued as well as Interpol red finds and permits for imprisonment were issued.

Ng may be charged in court on Wednesday. He is accused of misappropriating digital scraps from various companies for his own use and is facing a charge of criminal breach of trust.

Thor, who will also be charged on the same day, is accused of aiding another person in retaining gains from criminal behavior.

She reportedly made arrangements with her husband to start a Credit Suisse Hong Kong tree account in her name in the knowledge that the account would be used to keep the benefits of his alleged criminal behavior.

The powerful arrest of the two Taiwanese fugitives involved in this important corruption case, according to CPIB director of studies Vincent Lim, attests the long-standing relationships and close cooperation between CPIB and MACC.

” Those who choose to tear our laws by engaging in dishonest or criminal behavior have no refuge and zero tolerance,” the statement continues.

Mr. Lim added that investigations are ongoing, and that CPIB did make no effort to track down captives wherever they may cover and in Singapore.

CITIRAYA CASE

In a 2011 High Court ruling, Citiraya was involved in the disposal and recovery of precious metal from electrical waste.

Ng&nbsp was given the task of disposing of digital scrap that its customers sent to Citiraya for destruction in accordance with an oath filed by a CPIB officer in 2008.

But, Ng, with the assistance of his nephew, who was Citiraya’s public administrator, in 2003 and 2004 allegedly&nbsp, misappropriated a part of the electric piece that had been sent for death by the microprocessor companies.

Instead, some of the scrap was repacked, sold to buyers in Hong Kong and Taiwan for about US$ 51.2 million, and the funds were then transferred to three Hong Kong bank accounts.

In 2011, a court order was issued to seize some of Ng’s assets, including the funds held in his First Commercial Bank accounts as well as bungalows that the couple jointly owned, in Binjai Park and Paya Lebar Crescent. &nbsp,