KPMG to help courts with one of Singapore's biggest fraud cases

Singapore’s high court has called in KPMG to support with a potentially fraudulent nickel trading scheme that involved allegedly illicit investments of roughly $750 million. 

Two companies, Envy Global Trading and Envy Asset Management, are suspected of channeling hundreds of millions into deals that never actually happened – a scheme that traces all the way to Envy Global Trading managing director Ng Yu Zhi. 

11 charges of fraud have been lodged against Zhi, including accusations that he falsified financial documents to enable illicit trades. Singapore’s high court has now named KPMG judicial manager for the case – giving the Big Four accounting and advisory firm till the end of this month to gather key information.

“The immediate focus of the interim judicial managers is to conduct an inquiry into the affairs, business and property, with a view to preparing a report for the court within four weeks of April 27 as to whether the objectives of judicial management will be achievable,” said KPMG Singapore’s partner and head of restructuring Bob Yap.

“At this juncture, it is still preliminary to provide any information on the affairs, business and property of the companies,” he added. Yap is joined by fellow KPMG partners Martin Wong and Toh Ai Ling in the latest task of administrating the two trading companies while the financial fraud matters are settled. 

A number of lawsuits have been filed against Zhi – who reportedly took sums ranging from $500,000 to $3 million from five big-ticket investors at the start of this year, for transactions that never materialized. Among the plaintiffs is construction firm Debenho, which is suing for roughly $17 million. It remains to be seen whether investor losses can be covered. 

This is the second notable company placed under the charge of Yap, Wong and Ling in the span of a few months. In July last year, the trio took over judicial management of Singapore-based oil trader ZenRock – after a KPMG investigation found over 200 questionable transactions in the company’s trading activity.