SINGAPORE: A tycoon allegedly linked to an embezzlement case involving more than US$51 million – around S$72 million at the time – was handed 38 more charges on Wednesday (May 20) for offences including corruption and theft.
Ng Teck Lee, 59, and his wife, Thor Chwee Hwa, 57, were caught in Malaysia in December 2024 after nearly 20 years on the run.
At the time of his alleged offences, Ng was the chief executive of Citiraya Industries, a company in the business of recycling electronic waste for computer chip manufacturers.
He allegedly misappropriated and sold uncrushed computer chips between April 2003 and November 2004, receiving more than US$51 million.
The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) and police said in a joint statement on May 20 that Ng, who is no longer the CEO of Citiraya, was charged with offences including graft, criminal breach of trust (CBT), theft, cheating, money laundering and falsification of accounts.
He now faces 40 charges in total, after he was earlier charged with other counts of CBT and graft.
For his latest charges, Ng is accused of giving bribes totalling $35,000 to three individuals on multiple occasions between March 2003 and April 2004.
Among other things, he allegedly gave a bribe of $20,000 to a surplus asset organisation manager of another company.
The bribe was purportedly a reward for showing favour to Citiraya by helping it secure a recycling contract with the firm.
Ng is also accused of instigating his brother to give bribes totalling more than S$2 million to seven individuals between November 2003 and December 2004.
In addition, Ng allegedly misappropriated more than 89,000kg of electronic chips entrusted to him between 2003 and 2004.
He is accused of selling them in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The joint statement did not disclose how much he allegedly received in such transactions.
CPIB and the police said Ng had been entrusted with electronic scrap from two companies, and the scrap weighed more than 113,000kg in total.
“(Ng) allegedly committed CBT by dishonestly disposing these electronic scraps in violation of the contract that Citiraya UK... had with the two companies,” said the two agencies.
“Ng instructed certain employees of Citiraya not to crush these electronic scraps, and to repackage and export them.”
On multiple occasions between November 2003 and January 2005, he allegedly cheated a finance manager of a company, claiming that its electronic scrap contained a lower level of precious metal than it actually did.
In 2004, Ng also allegedly instigated the production manager at Citiraya to cheat a senior accountant of another firm with a similar claim.
In a separate incident in April 2003, Ng allegedly transferred around US$45 million of his purported ill-gotten gains to two overseas bank accounts.
On or around June 30 that year, he allegedly instigated Thor to open an overseas bank account in her name to retain and conceal the benefits from his purported criminal conduct.
A sum of around US$1 million was transferred to the account in July 2003.
Ng is also accused of engaging in a conspiracy with several individuals to falsify 97 sales invoices of Citiraya and six other companies between June 2004 and January 2005.
His pre-trial conference will be held on June 26.
On May 8, Thor was sentenced to a year and 10 months’ jail after she admitted to opening a bank account used to receive ill-gotten gains totalling more than US$1.1 million.
CPIB investigated Citiraya between late 2004 and early 2005 after receiving information on suspected corrupt practices.
Court documents stated that on Jan 21, 2005, Thor met CPIB officers to assist with investigations.
She was questioned about Ng’s activities and informed that there was an ongoing investigation involving him. She was released unconditionally later that day.
But a week later, she left Singapore and met Ng overseas.
The couple resided in China, where they posed as Indonesian nationals.
With their false identities, the couple applied to live in Malaysia under the Malaysia My Second Home programme, using a residence initially owned by Thor’s brother.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission arrested the pair in Johor Bahru on Dec 3, 2024, and they were sent back to Singapore later that day. - The Straits Times/ANN
