SINGAPORE EXEC STOLE S$475M FROM INVESTORS TO FINANCE LAVISH LIFESTYLE

The businessman behind Singapore’s biggest investment fraud allegedly pocketed more than half of the net funds investors poured into his company, with documents showing his lavish spending on private jets, nightclubs and cash gifts.

Ng Yu Zhi, 34, was responsible for outflows of S$475 million (US$352 million) from his Envy Group of companies, according to a report by court-appointed judicial managers for the firms.

The report was distributed to investors and seen by Bloomberg News. That compared with confirmed net inflows of S$841.5 million from investors, the report said, adding the tracing of fund flows is ongoing.

Ng spent about S$2 million a month to fund his lifestyle, which included the services of a butler and chauffeur, and expenditure on alcohol, hotel rooms, and at fine dining restaurants, the report showed.

He made “significant monetary gifts to close associates,” it said. Ng’s companies are now run by a team of interim judicial managers led by Bob Yap of KPMG LLP. They declined to comment on the report. Ng’s lawyers at Davinder Singh Chambers LLC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The alleged scam has rattled the moneyed classes in one of Asia’s wealthiest nations as the list of victims grows to include high-profile professionals from the city’s asset management and legal industries. Ng is facing 32 charges and has been accused of cheating and of criminal breach of trust by misappropriating at least S$201 million.

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