Nelson Loh admitted to nine charges – four for cheating, three for money laundering and two for forgery. - ST FILE
SINGAPORE: The co-founder of Novena Global Healthcare Group (NGHG), who duped banks into disbursing over $69 million in loans to his company, was jailed for 15 years and nine months on Friday (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.
They fled Singapore in September 2020 and warrants of arrest and Interpol red notices were issued against them.
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.
After more than two years on the run, both men were arrested by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) in December 2022.
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.
Loh was heavily involved in making decisions on NGHG’s finances, and admitted to CAD he was the “head of everything” there, said the DPP.
In 2019, as NGHG was facing financial difficulty, shareholders and investors asked Loh for their money back.
Loh applied for bank loans and conspired with Wong to forge a 30-page document on the financial statements for the 2018 financial year, to trick the banks into believing the document was created by Ernst & Young.
Loh told Wong to send the forged document to six banks.
As a result, they deceived Standard Chartered Bank into believing Ernst & Young had performed audits on NGHG, and induced the bank to disburse loans of around $15 million to the company.
The pair also duped DBS Bank and UOB into disbursing loans of around $14.9 million and $12.4 million respectively.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Yiwen sought a jail term of between 16 and 18 years’ jail for Loh, and nine to 12 years’ jail for Wong.
DPP Ng said it is undisputed that the amount of losses caused to the banks must serve as a key sentencing consideration, as the duo defrauded multiple banks in just three months in 2019.
No restitution was made on the unrecovered losses – amounting to over $50 million – suffered by the banks, said the prosecution.
DPP Ng said Loh was the directing mind behind the offences while Wong, even though he acted on Loh’s instructions, was a willing participant.
In mitigation, Loh’s defence lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam said his client did not commit his offences due to personal greed, but because NGHG was facing financial difficulties, and his main motivation was to alleviate these difficulties.
“He tried his best for his business, but used the wrong ways,” said Thuraisingam, who sought 15 years for his client.
DPP Ng replied it should not be considered noble of Loh to commit these offences to save his company.
The prosecutor said Loh had used the funds to keep the house of cards, which was NGHG, steady.
He added: “He was cementing his reputation as the chairman of a prestigious company that had investments around the world, before fleeing when he realised the house was coming down.”
Seeking not more than six to eight years’ jail for Wong, his defence lawyer Nakoorsha A.K. said his client was a mere accomplice, and not the mastermind.
“He was a school teacher teaching physical education before joining Loh at NGHG. He had no background in business and learnt everything on how to do business from Loh,” said Nakoorsha, adding that his client did not receive any financial benefit from the offences.
Those convicted of committing forgery can be jailed for up to four years and fined.
The offence of cheating carries a penalty of a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine.
Those who transfer benefits from their criminal conduct, or property which they had reasonable grounds to believe is another person’s benefits from criminal conduct, can be fined up to $500,000 or jailed for up to 10 years, or both. - The Straits Times/ANN
