Envy’s ex-directors seek bankruptcy after being found liable for breach of duties in nickel trading fraud

A director of the insolvent Envy group of companies at the heart of the billion-dollar nickel trading scam has been declared bankrupt, following a court order for her and eight others to repay almost S$900 million.

Another former director, who was also ordered to make the repayment, has applied for bankruptcy as well.

Lee Si Ye was declared bankrupt on Sep 18, a bankruptcy search by The Business Times showed. The 37-year-old applied for her own bankruptcy on Aug 12, less than a fortnight after the High Court ordered that she and eight former directors and employees of the Envy group return almost S$900 million for eventual distribution to the group’s creditors.

Her application showed her debt amount as over S$881.3 million.

Ju Xiao, ex-director of Envy Global Trading, also made a bankruptcy application, on Aug 14, on a debt amount of S$345 million. The 38-year-old’s application will be heard on Nov 20.

Judicial Commissioner Mohamed Faizal found that Lee and Ju had breached their duties as directors. The duo were jointly and severally liable for the total sum of S$593 million, US$192.2 million and 880,000 euros (S$1.3 million), with Lee being responsible for the entire sum, and Ju, up to 40 per cent of the quantum.

Lee has served as a director and signatory of the Envy group for almost the entirety of its existence. The trained accountant was a former director of Envy Asset Management and Envy Management Holdings until 2021, and is still a director of Envy Global Trading.

She also held a minority stake in the Envy group.

Envy Asset Management had purportedly engaged in physical nickel trading by purchasing quantities of London Metal Exchange Nickel Grade Metal at a discounted rate, before selling the metal at a higher price to third-party buyers.

After Envy Asset Management was placed on the authority’s investor alert list for being wrongly perceived as being licensed to carry out such trading, the business was transferred to Envy Global Trading, owned by Envy Management Holdings.

The nickel trading scam allegedly perpetrated by Ng Yu Zhi – the largest Ponzi scheme in Singapore’s history – attracted about S$1.5 billion in funds from investors that included financiers and lawyers. About S$854 million is still owed to them.

Envy Global Trading, Envy Asset Management and Envy Management Holdings, as well as their three liquidators, in their bid to claw back various payments, sued various parties, including Lee and Ju.

The judge had found that Lee was “shockingly derelict in her duties as a director”, and her culpability was extremely high, despite her not knowing that fraudulent acts were taking place. Had it not been for Lee’s negligence, the losses of the Envy group would not have materialised.

“There were multiple red flags that should have put her on inquiry, and if she had acted diligently at any of those points in time, the losses could have been avoided, or at least minimised,” the judge said. Lee did not verify whether a company owned by Ng was legitimate, with the Envy group sending over S$400 million to that firm.

Ju, meanwhile, was aware of, or at least wilfully blind about, the hollow nature of the scheme. He was aware that the purported trading was amiss and also forged four contracts on Ng’s instructions, even though there were no genuine underlying transactions.

Ng, the apparent mastermind of the scheme, was declared bankrupt in 2022 after the liquidators received a partial summary judgment – which was passed in their favour without going through a trial – for about S$416.4 million and US$17.6 million over his alleged acts.

Source: The Business Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

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