SINGAPORE – Even though he did not have enough cash or assets, the father-in-law of alleged nickel-trading fraudster Ng Yu Zhi agreed to be Ng’s surety linked to a bail sum of $1.5 million.
Court documents stated that private-hire driver Chua Eng Kiam, 68, knew that Ng, 38, would provide the money needed for the bail.
The prosecution said: “None of (Chua’s) money was at risk of forfeiture, and he knew full well that Ng would be responsible for the money should bail be forfeited.”
On April 16, Chua was sentenced to two months’ jail after he pleaded guilty to a bail-related offence.
Ng is accused of masterminding a nickel-trading scam that attracted more than $1 billion from multiple investors.
His case is pending. Chua’s daughter divorced him in 2025.
Deputy public prosecutors Matthew Choo and Brian Tan told the court that between March 2021 and March 2022, Ng was handed 105 charges for offences including cheating and forgery.
His charges were transmitted to the High Court in January 2023, and the State Court then imposed a bail sum of $6 million.
In March that year, Ng was released on bail linked to two sureties – his own father and another person known as Quek Chin Chuan – in sums of $4.5 million and $1.5 million, respectively.
On or before June 23, 2023, Ng asked Chua to replace one of his sureties linked to a bail sum of $1.5 million.
Chua was also told that Ng would borrow the sum from his own friends.
