Fraud allegations
Following a probe in November 2020 by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) into suspicious activities carried out by his two companies, [7] Ng was arrested on 16 February 2021. [8] On 22 March 2021, he was charged with cheating and "being a party to fraudulent trading". He posted S$1.5 million bail and remained under 24-hour monitoring. [9] The following month, he was charged with forging bank documents. [10] In July 2021, his bail was raised to S$4 million. [11]
According to the prosecution, as part of an alleged Ponzi scheme that stretched from October 2017 till February 2021, [12] Ng courted investors for funds to purchase nickel metal from a company called Poseidon Nickel at a discounted price. The nickel would be resold for a profit to BNP Paribas Commodity Futures or Raffemet; Ng allegedly guaranteed his investors three-month profits averaging 15 per cent. [8] However, independent investigators alleged that the nickel being traded was nonexistent, [8] and that between S$300 million and S$474 million was transferred to Ng's personal bank accounts. [1] [13] About S$1.5 billion was invested in the alleged scam, with S$731 million returned to investors, [14] and around S$1 billion owed to them. [15] Ng's alleged scam reportedly ensnared some 300 victims; [16] if convicted, Ng would have had executed the largest investment fraud in the history of Singapore. [9]
As a result of the fraud allegations, Ng's restaurant Cicada closed, and Nishikane and Sake Labo were put up for sale by liquidators. [5] He was declared bankrupt in 2022. [17] During his trial, one witness testified that two investors in his alleged Ponzi scheme "had died directly or indirectly because of pressure from this case." [17]
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