Last month, nickel trader Ng Yu Zhi, a director of Envy Asset Management and Envy Global Trading, was charged with four counts of fraud in connection with the nickel Trading fraud by raising at least S $1bn ($740m) from non-existent commodity transactions.
Police have described it as one of the largest suspected investment fraud schemes ever.
It is the latest scandal to hit the financial and commodity trading centre.
Its assets under management have ballooned to S $4 trillion, thanks to inflows of foreign money.
Prosecutors said in court proceedings last month that S $300 million of the S $1 billion invested in the two companies had been transferred to his personal account, while an estimated S $200 million remained outstanding.
Ng allegedly raised money from investors, claiming to buy Nickel from an Australian company called Poseidon Nickel Ltd.
But the company's CEO said it had no business dealings with Ng.
According to the charge sheet, Ng was involved in tricking investors into buying so-called forward contracts allegedly signed with French lender BNP Paribas SA, but the contracts did not exist.
BNP Paribas has no account or Trading records for NG, Envy Asset Management or Envy Global Trading, people familiar with the matter said.
One person who learned about Ng from a business partner and started investing in him in 2018 said he never withdrew his money because he believed Ng could deliver consistently high returns.
Ng's investors include Singapore fund Management firm Envysion Wealth Management Pte, which has a similar name but is not related to Ng's company.
Prosecutors allege Mr Ng persuaded Envysion to invest S $48m of receivables in nickel products that never existed.
The young financier was able to raise huge sums of money by touting average quarterly returns of 15 per cent, a performance that made him the best-performing hedge fund manager in the world, according to open court proceedings, interviews with investors and a charge sheet filed by Singapore prosecutors.
Ng's lawyer Davinder Singh did not respond to emailed questions.
It is unclear from the indictment and court proceedings whether Ng has entered a guilty plea.
He, a Singaporean citizen, was released on bail of S $1.5 million and placed under electronic monitoring.
The court will hear further proceedings in the coming weeks.
About Ng Yu Zhi:
Mr Ng, 33, has the wealth of a successful businessman: a business book with numerous clients, a luxury three-storey villa in Singapore and a Pagani Huayra supercar worth more than $5m.
According to undisclosed sources in The Straits Times, the Ministry of Commercial Affairs seized S $100 million of assets from Ng, including his Pagani Huayra supercar.
Local prosecutors allege Ng has another secret: his lavish lifestyle is based on a lie.
Although little is known about Ng's early life, in recent years he has become a familiar face in Singapore's philanthropy, supercar and corporate world.
In August 2020, he was commended at the prestigious Yong Loo Lin Medical School at the National University of Singapore for contributing to his fundraising campaign.
According to company filings, Ng's businesses include commodities trading, technology startups, Japanese restaurants and veterinary clinics.
NG's closely watched investment strategy has to do with nickel, a key ingredient in many electric car batteries.
The metal has become a popular speculative bet in recent years as demand for Teslas and other electric cars has surged.
