In fact, no cheap nickel was purchased, so there was none to sell. There was no agreement with the mine, and no forward contracts for the sale of the metal, prosecutors said.
“The Envy companies paid earlier investors not with returns generated from physical nickel trading, but with the moneys invested by other investors,” they said.
Over a period of six years, Ng’s companies received money from a total of 947 investors, including many high-profile figures in the city state, misappropriating nearly $482 million to fund his lavish lifestyle and extravagant purchases from art and jewellery to high-end cars.
Ng faces 108 charges, but only 42 will proceed, and he pleaded not guilty to those on Tuesday. The prosecution plans to call on evidence from 58 witnesses.
See also: Cosmosteel’s CEO Ong resigns after 3HA Capital offer declared unconditional
The nickel scam is the latest in a series of scandals in the financial and commodities-trading hub, now working to restore a reputation for good governance.
Earlier this month, former oil tycoon Lim Oon Kuin, 82, was handed a 17-and-half year jail sentence for cheating HSBC Holdings Plc and instigating forgery. In October, S. Iswaran became the first ex-cabinet minister to be jailed in almost half a century, after pleading guilty to charges including obstruction of justice.
