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Singapore Law Watch
2 days ago
- Business
- Singapore Law Watch
9 ex-directors, employees ordered to repay almost S$900m to Envy companies in fraudulent nickel trading suits
9 ex-directors, employees ordered to repay almost S$900m to Envy companies in fraudulent nickel trading suits Source: Business Times Article Date: 30 Jul 2025 Author: Tay Peck Gek Two of them are jointly and severally liable for the total sum of S$593 million, US$192.2 million and 880,000 euros. The High Court has ordered nine former directors and employees of the insolvent Envy group of companies – at the centre of the S$1.5 billion nickel trading fraud allegedly perpetrated by Ng Yu Zhi – to return almost S$900 million to the group for eventual distribution to creditors. The nine were sued by Envy Global Trading, Envy Asset Management and Envy Management Holdings, as well as their three liquidators in a bid to claw back the various payments – including commissions, directors' fees and salaries – made to them. The group of companies was insolvent from their inception. In a 180-page judgment published on Tuesday (Jul 29), Judicial Commissioner Mohamed Faizal found that ex-directors Lee Si Ye (also known as Rhiya) and Ju Xiao were jointly and severally liable for the total sum of S$593 million, US$192.2 million and 880,000 euros (S$1.3 million). Lee, a trained accountant, is fully liable for the entire sum, while Ju is responsible for up to 40 per cent of the quantum, the judge ruled. Meanwhile, Cheong Ming Feng, an administrative executive, has to repay S$1.9 million but is allowed to have his salary payments and corresponding Central Provident Fund contributions set off against this liability. In another judgment released on the same day, the judicial commissioner ruled that six other former employees – who the liquidators accepted were unaware of the fraud – were liable for about S$42 million in total, with each person's payments ranging from S$370,882 to S$17.9 million. The six are Lau Lee Sheng, Benjamin Teo Wei Wen, Shen Xuhuai, Koh Hong Jie, Guo Yujia and Jordan Chua Wei Jian. They were employed in various capacities – including as sales directors, sales associates and financial accountants – by Envy Asset Management or Envy Management Holdings. The sums claimed were paid to them as commissions, profit-sharing payment, referral fees or their investment returns from the purported nickel trading. Lee and Ju breached director duties Lee had been serving as a director and signatory of the Envy group for almost the entirety of its existence. She was a former director of Envy Asset Management and Envy Management Holdings until 2021, and is still a director of Envy Global Trading. The 37-year-old held a minority stake in the Envy group. Ju was a director of Envy Global Trading for less than a year when he resigned in late 2020, but he continued to be head of trading of the Envy group until May 2021. The judge found that Lee and Ju had breached their duties as directors. In particular, Lee was 'shockingly derelict in her duties as a director' and her culpability was extremely high, despite the judge finding that she did not know fraudulent acts were taking place. Had it not been for Lee's negligence, the losses of the Envy group would not have materialised. 'There were multiple red flags that should have put her on inquiry, and if she had acted diligently at any of those points in time, the losses could have been avoided, or at least minimised,' commented the judge. She did not check or verify whether a company owned by Ng was legitimate or not, with the Envy group sending over S$400 million to that company. Ju, meanwhile, was aware of, or at least wilfully blind about, the hollow nature of the scheme, concluded the judge. He was aware that the purported trading was amiss and also forged four contracts on Ng's instructions even though there were no genuine underlying transactions. He misapplied investors' monies to conduct proprietary trading as well – a custodial breach of his fiduciary duties, noted the judge. Cheong's forgery Cheong, however, is not liable for fraudulent trading, dishonest assistance or unlawful conspiracy, thus there is no basis for him to be jointly or severally liable for the sums sought. Cheong knew that he was creating forgeries and that these were being circulated to internal employees and external investors, but he did not know that such actions were to prop up a non-existent scheme. All the payments (including for profit sharing and commission, allowance, bonus and reimbursements, Lee's director's fees and dividends) to Lee, Ju and Cheong, as well as Ju's basic salary, may be clawed back as these payments were eroded from the Envy group and from the reach of their creditors. Lee and Cheong were allowed to keep their basic salaries as they had acted in good faith and provided adequate value for the payments. The basic salary payments were contractual obligations which were not contingent on the Envy group being profitable. 'The employee or director's breach of their duties would not disentitle them to their salary,' the judge reasoned. In contrast, Ju was aware of the fraudulent nature of the scheme, and thus would not be able to pocket his basic salary. The commission and profit sharing payments, on the other hand, hinged on whether there were profits or returns from the investments into the purported trading, but it was a scheme that had no 'profits' or returns to speak of. Six other defendants Among the other six former employees found liable, Envy Asset Management and Envy Management Holdings sales directors Lau and Teo were ordered to repay the largest sums of S$17.9 million and S$10.2 million, respectively. However, these six defendants may set off any excess income tax they paid as a result of their receipt of the payments against the sums they are now ordered to repay in this judgment. This was because they had incurred an increase in income tax as a result of receiving the payments now being sought. Shook Lin & Bok acted for the plaintiffs in both suits. Largest Ponzi scheme in Singapore Between 2015 and April 2020, Envy Asset Management purportedly engaged in physical nickel trading by purchasing quantities of London Metal Exchange Nickel Grade Metal at a discounted rate, before selling the metal at a higher price to third-party buyers. After the Monetary Authority of Singapore placed Envy Asset Management on its investor alert list for being wrongly perceived as being licensed to carry out such trading, the business was transferred to Envy Global Trading, owned by Envy Management Holdings. The largest Ponzi scheme in Singapore's history attracted about S$1.5 billion in funds from investors that included financiers and lawyers. About S$854 million is still owed to them. Ng, the apparent protagonist and mastermind of the scheme, held a majority of the stakes in the Envy companies, and was a director of Envy Asset Management and Envy Global Trading. He was declared bankrupt in 2022 after the liquidators received a partial summary judgment – which was passed in their favour without having gone through a trial – for about S$416.4 million and US$17.6 million over his alleged acts. Source: The Business Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction. Print
AsiaOne
2 days ago
- Business
- AsiaOne
Liquidators score victory to recoup over $900m from alleged scammer Ng Yu Zhi's associates, Singapore News
SINGAPORE — The liquidators for three companies of Ng Yu Zhi, the alleged nickel-trading fraudster at the centre of a $1.5 billion nickel trading scam, scored a legal victory on July 29 to recover more than $900 million from nine former directors and employees for their role in Singapore's biggest Ponzi scheme. In 2021, the liquidators of Envy Asset Management (EAM), Envy Global Trading (EGT) and Envy Management Holdings (EMH) sued Ng, former directors Lee Si Ye and Ju Xiao, and former employee Cheong Ming Feng. Court documents state that Ng's three companies received about $1.09 billion, US$277.2 million (S$357 million) and €980,000 (S$1.4 million) in investor funds, supposedly for nickel trading. Of those sums, $593 million, US$192.2 million and €880,000 remain outstanding to investors. In a 180-page judgment issued on July 29, the liquidators, who are represented by lawyers David Chan, Daryl Fong and Lin Ruizi of Shook Lin & Bok, were awarded damages after Ms Lee, Mr Ju and Mr Cheong were found to have breached their duties. They also received damages for fraudulent trading by Mr Ju. The trio were also ordered to pay back about $27 million in commission payments, profit sharing, bonuses, CPF payments, directors' fees and dividends. The High Court, however, ruled that the July 29 judgment is "not binding" on Ng, who was made bankrupt in December 2022. Civil proceedings against the former managing director of EGT and EAM stopped as a result. Ng's criminal trial on 42 charges ended on July 7 after he opted not to take the stand. He had faced a total of 108 charges over offences including cheating, forgery, fraudulent trading, money laundering and criminal breach of trust. In awarding damages to the liquidators, High Court Judicial Commissioner Mohamed Faizal found that the nickel trading scheme did not exist and none of the investors' monies were used to buy nickel from Poseidon Nickel. This is the Australian firm that Ng claimed to have bought nickel from. Instead, the funds were transferred to Ng through Envy Asset Management Trading, paid as directors' fees to Ng and Ms Lee, and as commission payments, or profit sharing fees to the defendants and other employees. The funds were also used to pay referral fees or "profits" in excess of the invested principal to investors; and transferred or paid to other companies owned by Ng or his Envy companies, the judicial commissioner found. The High Court also found that the Envy companies were "hopelessly insolvent and unable to pay their debts. Neither EGT nor EMH had any legitimate, revenue-generating business, and there was no other meaningful business undertaken by the Envy companies". There was also "compelling evidence of the shocking level of ineptitude and nonchalance" on the part of Ms Lee, who allegedly helped Ng cover up details of fraudulent transfers of $416.5 million and US$17.7 million to his own bank accounts under false pretences, according to the ruling. She was found to be "grossly negligent" but "did not have actual knowledge" of the Ponzi scheme as she and her own family members and loved ones also invested in the scheme, the judicial commissioner pointed out. As for Mr Ju, the High Court found that he was in breach of his director's duties and liable for fraudulent trading, among other things. "That he was willing to forge documents, fraudulently change the paid-up capital sums for EGT and mislead investors... spoke to his entire approach to his role as a director and employee of the company. These actions also reflect his willingness to be complicit in whatever he was asked to do. This made a mockery of his duties as a director of EGT," the judge said. Mr Cheong, the former employee, knew that he was creating forgeries, and also became aware that these were being circulated to both internal employees and external investors, but the High Court found that he did not know that such actions were being done to prop up a sham scheme. For one thing, Mr Cheong was "not particularly sophisticated and possessed a rather rudimentary understanding of the business". His own investments "started even before he joined the Envy companies and he had assisted some of his friends to do the same, which suggests that he himself bought into the logic of the purported nickel trading", the judicial commissioner said. Regardless of whether Ms Lee, Mr Ju or Mr Cheong had knowledge of the Ponzi scheme, they were still ordered to return most of the monies they had received from the Envy companies. In a separate 62-page judgment released on July 29, the High Court ordered six other former employees of the Envy companies to cough up more than $42 million in fictitious profits, commission payments, profit sharing and referral fees paid to them. This award is subject to a deduction of income tax payments made by these six employees. Former employees Lau Lee Sheng, Benjamin Teo Wei Wen, Shen Xuhuai, Koh Hong Jie (Xu Hongjie), Guo Yujia and Jordan Chua Wei Jian were named defendants in this suit brought by the liquidators. The High Court allowed the liquidators to claw back monies paid to them after finding that the Envy companies "were never under any obligation to pay the commission payments and profit sharing payments to the defendants because the (companies) never made any actual profit". [[nid:720725]] This article was first published in The Straits Times . Permission required for reproduction.
Straits Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Liquidators score victory to recoup over $900 million from scammer Ng Yu Zhi's associates
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Court documents state that Ng's three companies received about $1.09 billion, US$277.2 million and €980,000 (S$1.4 million) in investor funds. SINGAPORE - The liquidators for three companies of Ng Yu Zhi, the alleged nickel-trading fraudster at the centre of a $1.5 billion nickel trading scam, scored a legal victory on July 29 to recover more than $900 million from nine former directors and employees for their role in Singapore's biggest Ponzi scheme. In 2021, the liquidators of Envy Asset Management (EAM), Envy Global Trading (EGT) and Envy Management Holdings (EMH) sued Ng, former directors Lee Si Ye and Ju Xiao, and former employee Cheong Ming Feng. Court documents state that Ng's three companies received about $1.09 billion, US$277.2 million and €980,000 (S$1.4 million) in investor funds, supposedly for nickel trading. Of those sums, $593 million, US$192.2 million and €880,000 remain outstanding to investors. In a 180-page judgment issued July 29, the liquidators, who are represented by lawyers Daryl Fong and Lin Ruizi of Shook Lin & Bok, were awarded damages after Ms Lee, Mr Ju and Mr Cheong were found to have breached their duties as directors. They also received damages for fraudulent trading by Mr Ju. The trio were also ordered to pay back about $27 million in commission payments, profit sharing, bonuses, CPF payments, directors' fees and dividends. The High Court, however, ruled that the July 29 judgment is 'not binding' on Ng, who was made bankrupt in December 2022. Civil proceedings against the former managing director of EGT and EAM stopped as a result. Ng's criminal trial on 42 charges ended on July 7 after he opted not to take the stand. He had faced a total of 108 charges over offences including cheating, forgery, fraudulent trading, money laundering and criminal breach of trust. In awarding damages to the liquidators, High Court Judicial Commissioner Mohamed Faizal found that the nickel trading scheme did not exist and none of the investors' monies were used to buy nickel from Poseidon Nickel. This is the Australian firm that Ng claimed to have bought nickel from. Instead the funds were transferred to Ng through Envy Asset Management Trading (EAMT), paid as directors' fees to Ng and Ms Lee, and as commission payments, profit sharing fees to the defendants and other employees. The funds were also used to pay referral fees or 'profits' in excess of the invested principal to investors; and transferred or paid to other companies owned by Ng or his Envy companies, the judicial commissioner found. The High Court also found that the Envy companies were 'hopelessly insolvent and unable to pay their debts. Neither EGT nor EMH had any legitimate, revenue-generating business and there was no other meaningful business undertaken by the Envy companies.' There was also 'compelling evidence of the shocking level of ineptitude and nonchalance' on the part of Ms Lee, who allegedly helped Ng cover up details of fraudulent transfers of $416.5 million and US$17.7 million to his own bank accounts under false pretences, according to the ruling. She was found to be 'grossly negligent' but 'did not have actual knowledge' of the Ponzi scheme as she herself was being duped by Ng, with her own family members and loved ones also invested in the scheme, the judicial commissioner pointed out. As for Mr Ju, the High Court found that he was in breach of his directors' duties and liable for fraudulent trading, among other things. 'That he was willing to forge documents, fraudulently change the paid-up capital sums for EGT and mislead investors ... spoke to his entire approach to his role as a director and employee of the company. These actions also reflect his willingness to be complicit in whatever he was asked to do. This made a mockery of his duties as a director of EGT,' the judicial commissioner said. Mr Cheong, the ex-employee, knew that he was creating forgeries, and also became aware that these were being circulated to both internal employees and external investors, but the High Court found that he did not know that such actions were being done to prop up a sham scheme. For one thing , Mr Cheong was 'not particularly sophisticated and possessed a rather rudimentary understanding of the business'. His own investments 'started even before he joined the Envy companies and he had assisted some of his friends to do the same, which suggests that he himself bought into the logic of the purported nickel trading,' the judicial commissioner said. Regardless of whether Ms Lee, Mr Ju or Mr Cheong had knowledge of the Ponzi scheme, they were still ordered to return most of the monies they had received from the Envy companies. In a separate 62-page judgment released July 29, the High Court ordered six other former employees of the Envy companies to cough up more than $42 million in fictitious profits, commission payments, profit sharing and referral fees paid to them. This award is subject to a deduction of income tax payments made by these six employees. Former employees Lau Lee Sheng, Benjamin Teo Wei Wen, Ms Shen Xuhuai, Koh Hong Jie (Xu Hongjie), Guo Yujia and Jordan Chua Wei Jian were named defendants in this suit brought by the liquidators. The High Court allowed the liquidators to claw back monies paid to them after finding that the Envy companies 'were never under any obligation to pay the commission payments and profit sharing payments to the defendants because the (companies) never made any actual profit.'
Mint
3 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Singapore Director Is Liable for $654 million After Ponzi Scheme
(Bloomberg) -- Two former directors of the insolvent Envy Group of companies are liable to investors for as much as $654 million lost in a nickel-trading scam and Singapore's largest-ever Ponzi scheme, the High Court ruled. Lee Si Ye, a former Envy director and shareholder, is liable for the entire sum comprising S$593 million ($461 million), $192.2 million and 880,000 euros ($1 million), according to a court ruling published Tuesday. Ju Xiao, another former director and trading head, is liable for up to 40% of the total amount. Ng Yu Zhi, the 'apparent protagonist and mastermind of the entire Ponzi scheme' who held at least 80% to 90% of Envy companies, was not part of the proceedings because he had already been deemed bankrupt, according to the ruling. The 2021 arrest of Ng, now 38, became a public spectacle in Singapore amid reports about his lavish spending after raising almost S$1.5 billion from hundreds of clients including high-profile lawyers. The former accountant allegedly spent hundreds of millions to fund his opulent lifestyle, buying mansions, fast cars and high-end jewelry. 'The outcome was a truly shocking one: a billion-dollar fraud perpetuated on all and sundry, from the common man on the street to sophisticated investors who were seduced by the apparent attractive returns,' Judicial Commissioner Mohamed Faizal wrote in conclusion. Read: The Billion-Dollar Nickel-Swap Scandal That Shocked Singapore Liquidators of Envy Global Trading, Envy Asset Management and Envy Management Holdings sought to recover investors' monies. Ng's Envy Group offered investments in nickel trading and touted average quarterly gains of 15%. The prosecution said the scheme was 'pure fiction.' Ng has remained on remand since Jan. 31, 2024, according to the court. Cheong Ming Feng, an administrative executive at Envy, is liable for S$1.9 million less his salary payments and contributions to the national pension fund. More stories like this are available on
Business Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
9 ex-directors, employees ordered to repay almost S$900 million to Envy companies in fraudulent nickel trading suits
[SINGAPORE] Nine former directors and employees of insolvent Envy group of companies – at the centre of the S$1.5 billion nickel trading fraud allegedly perpetrated by Ng Yu Zhi – have been ordered by the High Court to return almost S$900 million to the group. In a 180-page judgement published on Tuesday (Jul 29), Judicial Commissioner Mohamed Faizal found that ex-directors Lee Si Ye (also known as Rhiya) and Ju Xiao were jointly and severally liable for the total sum of S$593 million, US$192.2 million and 880,000 euros (S$1.3 million). Lee is fully liable for the entire sum, while Ju is responsible for up to 40 per cent of the quantum, the judge ruled. Lee was a former director of Envy Asset Management and Envy Management Holdings until 2021, and is still a director of Envy Global Trading. Ju was a director of Envy Global Trading until he resigned in late 2020, but he continued to be head of trading of the Envy group until May 2021. Cheong Ming Feng, an administrative executive, has been ordered to repay S$1.9 million but is allowed to have his salary payments and corresponding Central Provident Fund contributions set off against this liability. In another judgement also released the same day, the judicial commissioner ruled that six other former employees were liable for about S$42 million in total, with each person's payments ranging from S$370,882 to S$17.9 million. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up The six are Lau Lee Sheng, Benjamin Teo Wei Wen, Shen Xuhuai, Koh Hong Jie, Guo Yujia and Jordan Chua Wei Jian. They were employed in various capacities, including sales directors, sales associates and financial accountants, by Envy Asset Management or Envy Management Holdings. Largest Ponzi scheme in Singapore Between 2015 and April 2020, Envy Asset Management purportedly engaged in physical nickel trading by purchasing quantities of London Metal Exchange Nickel Grade Metal at a discounted rate, before selling the metal at a higher price to third party buyers. After the Monetary Authority of Singapore placed Envy Asset Management on its investor alert list for being wrongly perceived as being licensed to carry out such trading, the business was transferred to Envy Global Trading, owned by Envy Management Holdings. The largest Ponzi scheme in Singapore's history attracted about S$1.5 billion in funds from investors that included financiers and lawyers. About S$854 million is still owed to them. Ng, the apparent protagonist and mastermind of the scheme, held at least 80 to 90 per cent of the stakes in the Envy companies, and was a director of Envy Asset Management and Envy Global Trading. He was declared bankrupt in 2022 after he was ordered by the court to repay about S$416.4 million and US$17.6 million over his alleged acts.
