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Ng Yu Zhi (born c. 1987),^[1] also known as Ng You Zhi,^[2]^[3] is a Singaporean alleged con artist and fraudster. The former director of Envy Global Trading, he was charged in March 2021 with running the largest Ponzi scheme^[1] in the history of Singapore, worth about S$1.5 billion.

Business career

Ng founded and directed Envy Asset Management and Envy Global Trading.^[4] He was a major shareholder in several eateries, including Cicada in Clarke Quay and Nishikane and Sake Labo in Stanley Street.^[5] He also invested in a range of other business, including an interior design firm and a veterinary clinic.^[6] According to the Business Times, Ng was also an "increasingly visible figure in Singapore's philanthropic community" who had a "positive public image" until his arrest,^[1] with the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore commending him in August 2020 for his philanthropy.^[2]

Fraud allegations

Following a probe in November 2020 by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) into suspicious activities carried out by his two companies,^[7] Ng was arrested on 16 February 2021.^[8] On 22 March 2021, he was charged with cheating and "being a party to fraudulent trading". He posted S$1.5 million bail and remained under 24-hour monitoring.^[9] The following month, he was charged with forging bank documents.^[10] In July 2021, his bail was raised to S$4 million.^[11]

According to the prosecution, as part of an alleged Ponzi scheme that stretched from October 2017 till February 2021,^[12] Ng courted investors for funds to purchase nickel metal from a company called Poseidon Nickel at a discounted price. The nickel would be resold for a profit to BNP Paribas Commodity Futures or Raffemet; Ng allegedly guaranteed his investors three-month profits averaging 15 per cent.^[8] However, independent investigators alleged that the nickel being traded was nonexistent,^[8] and that between S$300 million and S$474 million was transferred to Ng's personal bank accounts.^[1]^[13] About S$1.5 billion was invested in the alleged scam, with S$731 million returned to investors,^[14] and around S$1 billion owed to them.^[15] Ng's alleged scam reportedly ensnared some 300 victims;^[16] if convicted, Ng would have had executed the largest investment fraud in the history of Singapore.^[9]

As a result of the fraud allegations, Ng's restaurant Cicada closed, and Nishikane and Sake Labo were put up for sale by liquidators.^[5] He was declared bankrupt in 2022.^[17] During his trial, one witness testified that two investors in his alleged Ponzi scheme "had died directly or indirectly because of pressure from this case."^[17]

Personal life

Ng is married to Fujian native Coco Cai (born c. 1991), with whom he has one son and one daughter.^[1] He lived with his family in a rented three-storey bungalow in Bukit Timah and owned a penthouse in Orchard Road.^[1] He reportedly had a vast collection of sports cars and other luxury goods worth around S$100 million—including the only Pagani Huayra in Singapore—which was seized by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) in 2021 as part of investigations into his alleged fraud.^[18]