SINGAPORE – A district judge from the State Courts has dismissed the application made by a former employee of
alleged Cambodian scam kingpin Chen Zhi
, for the release of seized funds.
This comes after the former human resources manager of Chen’s Singapore-based family office, DW Capital, known as Ms Ng, filed the application on Nov 18, 2025.
made the application
on behalf of DW Capital’s sole remaining director, Karen Chen Xiuling, who is sanctioned by the US and remains outside Singapore – despite multiple attempts requesting her assistance in investigations in the Republic.
Ms Ng’s application asked for the release of more than $332,000 for expenses such as salary incurred since the bank accounts were frozen; $459,000 for corporate taxes owed; and approximately $102,000 every month for future expenses.
In documents seen by The Straits Times, District Judge Kok Shu-en said she questioned Ms Ng’s application as she considered if Ms Ng was even in a position to speak credibly on the financial interests of the companies she was making the application for.
The judge said that Ms Ng’s November 2025 affidavit had not disclosed the sources of her information.
Judge Kok said that even though Ms Ng had resigned from the firm on Oct 17, 2025, she was somehow able to clearly detail the non-liquid assets held by the four companies.
She noted that Ms Ng’s role at DW Capital was limited to recruitment and payroll matters, and it was unclear why she could speak with authority on the financial situation of the four companies in the application.
Said the judge: “Even if I were to accept the contents of Ms Ng’s affidavit without any reservation, which I do not, the indication therein is that three of the applicant companies are connected to other entities that are located outside of Singapore.” The judge added that Chen Zhi is ultimately the beneficiary of the four applicant companies, whether directly or indirectly.
Judge Kok also said: “Given these connections with entities outside of Singapore, this leaves open the question as to whether there are alternative sources that are associated with these foreign parent entities that are available to the applicant companies.”
The judge said the information before her continues to point towards a large-scale and complex investigation into possible money laundering offences with a significant transnational element.
Judge Kok said more time was needed for the investigations to progress and for more information to be obtained.
She added that it was in the interests of justice for the seized properties to be preserved, particularly given the suspected nature of the seized properties.
ST understands that the judgment was passed on Jan 7.
The four firms involved in the application are linked to Chen, either directly or through his British Virgin Islands-registered family office, Global Treasure Development.
Three of them – DW Capital, Capital Zone Warehousing and Skyline Investment Management – are among firms sanctioned by the US Treasury. The fourth, Citylink Solutions, is not on the list of sanctioned companies.
