S'porean linked to Newcastle Utd takeover bid, jailed
The co-founder of Novena Global Healthcare Group (NGHG), who duped banks into disbursing more than $69 million in loans to his company and a wine trading company he had influence over, was jailed for 15 years and nine months on Aug 16.
Nelson Loh Ne-Loon, 45, admitted to nine charges – four for cheating, three for money laundering and two for forgery. He faced a total of 60 charges.
Loh made headlines in 2020 when he was part of a trio of investors looking to buy English Premier League club Newcastle United. Their £280 million (S$477 million) takeover bid never materialised.
His employee and secondary school friend, Wong Soon Yuh, also known as Michael Wong, 45, pleaded guilty to five charges, including over cheating and forgery offences, on Aug 16.
He was sentenced to eight years and six months’ jail.
The two Singaporeans left the Republic for China in September 2020, and warrants of arrest and Interpol red notices were issued against them in 2021.
The notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.
Within days of their departure, the police received a report that signatures of accounting firm Ernst & Young had been forged on some of NGHG’s financial statements.
With the help of Chinese authorities, both men returned to Singapore in December 2022 and were arrested by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD).
They have been in remand for over a year and seven months.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Bryan Wong said that in 2017, Wong Soon Yuh joined NGHG as a business development officer and worked closely with Loh as an assistant to the board of directors, drawing a monthly salary of around $13,000.
Loh was heavily involved in making decisions on NGHG’s finances, and admitted to the CAD that he was the “head of everything” there, said the DPP.
In addition to his directorships within NGHG, Loh also held a decision-making position in Giron, a local wine trading company, as Giron’s directors included his former wife and his cousins, said the prosecutor.
In 2019, as NGHG was facing financial difficulty, shareholders and investors asked Loh for their money back.
Hoping to get loans to repay the investors, Loh instructed Wong to send numerous e-mails with forged audited financial statements of NGHG and Giron to banks to apply for loans.
Six banks – Maybank, Standard Chartered Bank, DBS Bank, UOB, Citibank and HSBC – were deceived into disbursing more than $69 million in loans.
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