Singapore trader Ng Yu Zhi raised alarm bells months before arrest for investment fraud

Ng Yu Zhi continued accepting money from wealthy Singaporeans until his arrest in February, enticing them with inflated promises of investment gains

His unusually large cash transfers reportedly prompted some banks to file suspicious transaction reports with the city state’s police as far back as 2019

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Ng Yu Zhi pictured arriving at a court in Singapore in April. Photo: Reuters

Published: 2:21pm, 9 Jul 2021Updated: 9:30pm, 9 Jul 2021

A trader charged with orchestrating what police describe as one of Singapore’s biggest suspected investment frauds began setting off alarm bells at banks more than a year before his arrest in February, according to people familiar with the matter.

Ng Yu Zhi’s unusually large cash transfers from his trading company to his personal account prompted Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation to file suspicious transaction reports to police as far back as 2019, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. The bank shut the personal account in August 2020. Ng’s corporate account at United Overseas Bank Limited was closed more than a year before the 34-year-old was arrested, one of the people said.

The previously unreported timeline raises fresh questions about how Ng could have maintained an alleged S$1.46 billion (US$1.08 billion) fraud for so long.

Envy Global Trading's office in Singapore, as seen in February. Photo Reuters

Even as some banks cut ties with the trader, others including DBS and CIMB still had relationships with him at the time he was charged, people familiar with the matter said. Ng continued accepting money from wealthy Singaporeans until his arrest, enticing them with purported investment gains that averaged 15 per cent a quarter.

Prosecutors and court-appointed judicial managers of Ng’s companies allege that he was in fact fabricating trades and misappropriating client money to finance a S$2 million-a-month spending habit that included private jet travel, a personal butler and nightclub outings. All told, Ng funnelled about S$475 million from his companies – Envy Asset Management and Envy Global Trading – into his personal accounts, according to an interim report from the judicial managers.