S$1b Envy Global fraud case: Lawyers for man accused of helping ex-director in escape bid discharge themselves
The State Courts in Singapore. (File photo: CNA/Calvin Oh)
SINGAPORE: Lawyers representing a man accused of conspiring to help a businessman linked to a billion-dollar fraud case flee Singapore discharged themselves on Tuesday (Sep 6).
Shawn Liew Cheng Long, 36, failed to respond to his lawyers since the last court mention. On Tuesday morning, a warrant of arrest was issued for Liew when he did not show up in court.
But he turned up later that morning and explained that he was late. The arrest warrant was then withdrawn.
He was told to engage new lawyers by the next court mention and to return to court on Sep 27.
Liew was charged in July with one count of conspiring with another man to assist the former managing director of Envy Global Trading Ng Yu Zhi to leave Singapore illegally. This was when Ng was under investigation for criminal offences.
Liew is accused of engaging in a conspiracy with Ang Yew Teck around August 2021 to help Ng leave Singapore and obstruct the course of justice. He allegedly offered Ng plans to leave the country.
Ang was given a similar charge in February and faces other offences including illegal gambling acts.
The police previously said in a statement that this case is separate from another bid by three others to help Ng escape. All three have been sentenced to jail.
Ng faces more than 100 charges, including cheating and criminal breach of trust. One of the charges is for dishonestly misappropriating at least S$201.2 million from Envy Global Trading's DBS bank account between August 2020 and February 2021.
His alleged victims include a criminal lawyer who was allegedly cheated in an arrangement involving more than S$1 million between October 2020 and January 2021, as well as a woman listed as general counsel on Temasek's website.
She was allegedly cheated into giving S$5.5 million to Envy Global Trading for four receivables purchase agreements between October 2020 and January 2021.
Ng is also accused of cheating a former president of the Law Society of Singapore of about S$87,000 between October 2020 and December 2020.
Ng is next set to return to court for a pre-trial conference in October.
