THE prosecution is proceeding on 42 charges out of a total of 105 in the High Court trial against 37-year-old Ng Yu Zhi, the alleged nickel-trading fraudster at the centre of a US$1.1 billion scam.
The proceedings began on Tuesday (Nov 26) afternoon and will take place over more than 50 days over several tranches.
The proceeded charges are two counts of fraudulent trading, 10 counts of cheating, 15 counts of forgery, one count of criminal breach of trust, and 14 counts of converting, transferring or removing benefits from criminal conduct – in other words, money laundering.
Among the proceeded charges, he is accused of cheating Vickers Venture Partners founder Finian Tan of US$19.2 million between October 2020 and January 2021.
Tan was among the nearly 1,000 investors, including business people and lawyers, who sank their money into the scheme, which touted average quarterly gains of 15 per cent.
The rest of Ng’s 105 charges are, for the time being, being stood down.
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Ng, whose S$6 million bail was revoked in February 2024, has been in remand. He turned up in the High Court on Tuesday sporting his signature ponytail, and in liliac-coloured prison clothing.
He is represented by a team of lawyers from four law firms, including lead counsel Hassan Esa Almenoar.
When he was first charged in March 2021, his lawyers were from Davinder Singh Chambers.
In 2023, he was represented by Dentons Rodyk & Davidson, when his bail amount was upped to S$6 million from S$4 million. Neither are representing him now.
The prosecution will open its case on Wednesday. That tranche of the hearing is scheduled till Friday, before the court vacation starts next week.
Ng has three other charges not directly related to the alleged fraud. He was said to have committed the forgery and money laundering charges when he tried selling a property allegedly bought with criminal proceeds.
A bankruptcy order was made against him on Dec 22, 2022, upon the application by the liquidators of Envy Global Trading and Envy Asset Management. It was to recover about S$440.4 million from his personal assets, as the liquidators alleged the funds were transferred wrongfully into Ng’s personal accounts.
