Ng Yu Zhi gives evidence in civil hearing over purported nickel Ponzi scheme

The man accused of perpetrating a S$1.5 billion nickel trading scam on Thursday (Aug 15) expressed concern in his first court appearance for the civil lawsuit that his testimony would be used against him in his criminal proceedings.

It was Day 9 of the civil hearing brought by the group of Envy companies at the heart of a purported Ponzi scheme, and Ng Yu Zhi was summoned by one of the three defendants and a member of his former staff to give testimony in the High Court.

The 37-year-old told the court that the criminal case was still unresolved, “so I’m not sure if any statements given today will be prejudicial to the defence”.

He has been in remand, with more than 100 criminal charges related to the alleged Ponzi scheme – said to be the largest in Singapore’s history. His criminal case has not been tried.

Ng turned up in the High Court in prison clothing – a white T-shirt and lilac trousers – and still sporting his signature ponytail.

Judicial Commissioner Mohamed Faizal Mohamed Abdul Kadir assured him that evidence he was compelled by the court to give would be protected from being used by the prosecution in any proceedings.

He was present in court to give testimony about the three defendants’ involvement in the trading carried out by Envy Global Trading, Envy Asset Management and Envy Management Holdings. He was the majority owner and a director of each of these companies.

The trio – Lee Si Ye, Ju Xiao and Cheong Ming Feng – have denied having assisted Ng, being complicit in his alleged offences or turning a blind eye to his alleged wrongdoings despite knowing or suspecting him of committing them.

The plaintiffs, represented by a Shook Lin & Bok legal team, are claiming as much as the outstanding sum of about S$854 million owed to investors against each of these three defendants. They urged the court to find the trio jointly and severally liable, meaning that if any of them are unable to share in a responsibility, the others become responsible for that person’s share.

Lee, 36, also faces a S$3.5 million claim for permitting the Envy companies to pay out dividends from alleged fictitious profits.

Ng had refused to respond to several questions when he was on the stand on Thursday, including one under cross-examination by Lee. She had asked about him being the final decision-maker, even though she was overseeing back-office operations.

Ng replied: “Your Honour, I would not want to answer this at this point in time.”

But the court compelled him to respond, to the extent that it related to Lee’s involvement.

“I would say I have an overseeing role over decisions,” Ng relented and said.

He also testified he had told Lee that Envy Asset Management had been granted in-principle approval when she asked why it was not registered in the financial institution directory of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). That the authority would need time to update the directory was another explanation he gave Lee at the time.

Ng said he also told her that the external auditor had undergone a restructuring, so the audit was delayed.

He agreed with her that she had pressed him for information to complete the accounts or the financial statements.

He also testified that he had instructed her to redact certain transactions before sending the documents to the administration staff, on the grounds that the transactions were non-investor-related funds and irrelevant. Those transactions turned out to be wrongful transfers of investors’ funds to Ng himself, the liquidators of the Envy companies have alleged. 

Lee asked: “Do you agree at all times I believed that the businesses of Envy companies were genuine?” Ng said he agreed.

She was choked with emotion when she said she would not have reinvested a significant portion of her funds and those of her family’s if she had known that Envy’s business was not legitimate.

As a director of the Envy companies, Lee is accused of helping Ng to cover up evidence that would have exposed the Ponzi scheme. She is also being accused of not sounding the alarm, despite having been privy to Ng’s wrongful transfers to his personal accounts.

Ng denied the allegation that he had hired Cheong on the grounds that he lacked experience and qualifications and so would not question the decisions made. Cheong is named in a few of Ng’s criminal charges.

Cheong was employed by Envy Asset Management and Envy Management Holdings from mid-2017 to February 2021 as a client-support associate. He had conveyed Ng’s instructions for the forgery of various documents, and shown these to investors.

Cross-examined by Cheong’s lawyer, Ng testified that Cheong had no direct involvement in the trading and was only helping out with the paperwork and reports.

Ng said he was the only one who would have been aware of the specifics of the dealings and the trading deals.

He had also instructed Cheong to get someone to alter some bank statements and shipping documents, directed the contents to be amended, how those documents were to be used, and who they were to be disseminated to.

Under cross-examination by Ju, Ng agreed that he had approached Ju to transfer the purported nickel trading to Envy Global Trading shortly after MAS put Envy Asset Management on the Investor Alert List in March 2020.

The plaintiffs received a partial summary judgment – a judgment in their favour without having gone through a trial – against Ng in 2022.

Ng was declared bankrupt upon the application by the liquidators, who were acting on the summary judgment to recover about S$440.4 million of investors’ money that had been wrongfully transferred into his personal accounts.

This hearing is set for 13 days.

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