Royce Cars-VNExpress-Nov 28
A Singaporean businessman is being tried for allegedly swindling SGD1.5 billion (US$1.1 billion) from more than 900 investors and spending one-third of the amount on Porsche and Rolls-Royce cars, among other luxury assets. Ng Yu Zhi, 37, was the mastermind behind a scheme between 2016 and 2021, in which he convinced investors to put down money on a nickel trading investment opportunity which never took place, prosecutors told the High Court Wednesday, as reported by The Straits Times. The scam is one of the country’s largest ever investment frauds, according to Singapore police. Zhi forged documents to fool his victims that he has secured a deal with a major Australian mine to buy nickel at discount, prosecutors said. But in reality no such partnership was formed, and Zhi only used money from subsequent investors to pay earlier investors, they added. Among the victims were high-profile figures in the city-state, including wealth fund managers. Zhi allegedly spent around SGD481 million, or one-third of the misappropriated funds, to pay for his lavish lifestyle. He spent SGD20 million on four properties, SGD5 million on artworks, and bought a number of luxury cars including Porsche 911 GT3, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Lamborghini Aventador SV J, and an Aston Martin Rapide, prosecutors said. Zhi is contesting 42 charges of fraudulent trading, cheating, forgery, criminal breach of trust and money laundering, according to The Business Times. He has pleaded not guilty. In a recent report by Singapore police, the number of scams in the country surged more than 16% year-on-year to 26,587 in the first half. Over SGD385.6 million in losses were reported.
