CEO who sold rare supercar to Ng Yu Zhi for $7.3m had also invested in billion-dollar nickel scheme

Businessman Steven Goh Ching Huat, who sold a rare supercar to alleged fraudster Ng Yu Zhi for $7.3 million, had invested millions in Ng’s billion-dollar nickel trading scheme.

Mr Goh, chief executive of lifestyle products retailer Ossia International, told the High Court on April 24 that he invested more than $20 million in Ng’s Envy companies from 2018 until Ng was arrested in 2021.

Mr Goh got back about $10 million and lost about $11 million, he said through a Mandarin interpreter.

He was testifying in Ng’s ongoing criminal trial for 42 charges of cheating, forgery, criminal breach of trust, money laundering and fraudulent trading.

The 37-year-old is accused of masterminding a scam which attracted $1.46 billion from 947 investors over six years.

Over the past two weeks, the court has heard evidence of Ng’s lavish purchases, which the prosecution alleges were funded by his ill-gotten gains.

They include millions spent on multiple luxury cars for his wife and girlfriends, US$965,000 (S$1.27 million) on a 20.25-carat yellow diamond ring, $8 million on a semi-detached house and $2 million on 41 works of art.

On April 24, Mr Goh testified about a blue Pagani Huayra Coupe that he sold to Ng for $7.3 million in March 2020.

The sports car is among the assets listed in two money laundering charges.

Mr Goh said only 100 units of this model were produced.

He had bought the car directly from the Italian manufacturer and it was the only one in Singapore, he added.

Ng paid Mr Goh a total of $7.1 million for the car between March and August 2020.

Mr Goh said that for one of the payments, Ng deposited only $800,000 when he was supposed to pay $1 million.

Mr Goh said: “I told him it’s all right, you deposit the remaining $200,000 as an investment for me.”

The $200,000 was invested in Envy Global Trading, the court was told.

Under cross-examination by Mr Nicholas Narayanan, one of Ng’s lawyers, Mr Goh could not recall when he bought the car, but said he paid “a few million dollars” for it.

When asked, Mr Goh said he had sold the car to Ng at a higher price than the price he had paid, but that it was “normal”, and he agreed with the defence lawyer that the car had tremendous value that appreciates over time.

Mr Narayanan asked Mr Goh if he knew Ng had tried to become the distributor for Pagani for the Singapore and Malaysia market, but the businessman said he did not know about this.

The trial continues.

Ng’s nickel scheme was first offered through Envy Asset Management in February 2016.

After the firm was placed on the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s investor alert list, the scheme was moved to Envy Global Trading from April 2020 to March 2021.

Ng allegedly told investors he could buy nickel at a discount and then sell the metal for profit.

The prosecution’s case is that the purported nickel trades did not exist, and that earlier investors were paid with money put in by other investors.

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

Ong Beng Seng given leave to go to Europe and US for medical and work purposes